Beybreak Memorial
by Cerridwen Aerin Ellorin
Summary: Flames and more flames. Could Kai be somehow related to Roy Mustang? XD RR PLEASE!
1. Strangers In the Snowfield

Beybreak Memorial

Disclaimer: I do not own Bey Blade and its characters, I own all original characters portrayed herein. No, it has nothing to do with a memorial service. This takes place right after the Russian Finals.

Shizue

Yup, I could clearly see all of them. What are they happy for, anyway? Just won the Russian Finals Tournament. What a bunch of losers. They haven't seen the real terror of the Balkov Monastery yet. Or rather…the REAL terror behind everything. Haha, the Monastery was just a FACE.

Kikka

Hmph, I was getting bored waiting in the wings anyway. Should we fight them now? Brynhilde's getting BORED.

Selenay

Sigil said we should WAIT. 

Cerridwen

Yes, and the time is not just YET. The Russian Finals was just the BEGINNING.

Medain

We'll get them all, someday. Don't worry.

5 hooded figures were standing in the grove of trees beyond the Russian Stadium, their silver furred cloaks fluttering in the wind. Their eyes glinted in the afternoon sun, watching as the new World Bey Blading Champions make their way towards heir limousine.

"?" Kai Hiwatari was blinking as he saw the cloaks flutter in the wind; he wasn't even sure if there were people who were standing there by the snowfield-tree grove in the first place.

But…

"HEY! KAI! You don't want to miss out on the victory party, WOULD YOU?!" Takao Kinogu yells from the limousine.

"Coming," Kai said irritably. If there was one thing he hated, it was getting yelled at by the little hyperactive brat.

There was a collective shout of laughter as Takao pounced on Kai and Kai looked more than willing enough to slice him wide open with his Dranzer. 

"…" A lady in white was smiling.

"In the end, there's always a beginning," she said softly. She then hurried after the silver-cloaked strangers, laughing softly.


	2. Back To School With BBA And The White Ti...

Trouble in Tokyo 

GOMEN to all readers out THERE! GOMEN for taking so long to update my fic. I'm currently working right now, 6 frigging days of the week, and the only free day I HAVE is SUNDAY. T_T Wow. Talk about a major bummer. Anyway, don't worry, **I will try my best to update my fics on a weekly basis**. OK, on to the DISCLAIMER! 

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bey Blade, its characters, teams, and respective Bey Blades; I own the original characters, teams, and "fictitious" Bey Blades written herein. This story takes place right after the Russian Finals. There are cameos of your favorite teams here, and their respective members. I'm also using the Japanese version names here; swing me an e-mail if you're confused as to who is who: it's at eduin_goddess@yahoo.com, and a new address which is Eidolon_Masouki@hotmail.com. Oh, and do I hear Yuri Ivanov (Tala) waiting in the wings as the newest BBA Team member….?! Cha-CHING~~~!!! 8D

"Wake up, wake up, WAKE UP, TAKAO~~~!!!"

"…" Takao Kinogu rolled to the other side. "…man…5 more minutes…"

"Wake up Takao, you're going to be late for SCHOOL~~~!!!" Grandfather Kinogu whipped out his _shinai_ then started hitting his grandson with it on the bum. "When would you EVER learn to wake up EARLY?!"

"Alright, ALRIGHT ALREADY! SHEESH! You didn't have to hit me THAT hard," SD Takao yelps, rubbing his sore bum gingerly.

"And you call yourself a descendant of a noble lineage of _SAMURAI_~~~!!!" Grandfather Kinogu was fuming. "Max is waiting for you DOWNSTAIRS, for crying out LOUD."

"WHA~~~?! Grandfather, why didn't you TELL me?!" SD Takao grabbed his shower things from the chair beside his bed and bolted out of the room.

"I've been trying to tell you THAT for the last 5 MINUTES." Grandfather Kinogu shook his head and sighed. "My grandson, the stone sleeper."

Takao appeared at the top of their new house's steps. "Max, SORRY! I'll just take a quick shower!"

"I don't mind Takao, don't WORRY!" Max Mizuhara's voice floated from downstairs. "Just hurry up, we'll miss the bus to town!"

"OK! See you in 10 minutes!"

The 2 young men hurried to the bus stop, Takao biting on a piece of toast as he half-ran towards it with Max at his side. "Man, what a day to OVERSLEEP…" Takao grumbled.

There were a bunch of people already waiting at the bust stop, and they were a battalion, to say the least. SD Takao's eyes turned wobbly. "At the rate things are going, we're lucky if we make it before the school closes for the NIGHT…"

"Don't worry Takao, it's still quite early." Max looked at his watch. "We still have about a good 15 minutes before the flag ceremony starts."

"I still can't get over the fact that we moved here from Sendouji (a fictional little town I cooked up; lifted from "To Meet Again" and "BLADED!")," SD Takao said, blinking as he munched on his toast, his eyes thin little slits.

"Mmm-hmm, everything's so fast-paced here," Max told him. "Not unlike Sendouji."

"Man, I miss waking up 15 minutes late and STILL make it to school on time because the guard forgot the main gate keys." Takao sighed again. "But as Grandfather said, change is a good thing, as long as it's for the better, not for the worse."

"I'm just glad we moved right into the same neighborhood," Max said with a grin. "That way, we won't really lose contact with each other!"

"Yup." Takao nodded. "Oh, look, the bus is here!"

"Come on, let's grab the window seats," Max said. "And get acquainted with Tokyo City life the easiest way possible through this little trip to school."

"HEY! Wait up for US!"

Takao and Max stopped dead in their tracks, then looked over their shoulders. Takao blinked. "WHA~~~?! LEI! You're…"

"Yes, that I am." Lei Kon grinned. 

"And you're with Rai and Mao," Max said, blinking.

"Right after the Russian Tournament, Chairman Daitenji agreed to put us through the BBA Scholarship," Rai told them. "Gao's left at the White Tiger Valley to look over things for us, then Keiki would be following us next week."

"We're staying over at our Uncle's place," Mao added. "It's right in this neighborhood."

"But how come we didn't get to SEE you?!" Takao asked, blinking.

"We've been pretty busy, moving in and all, we just arrived 3 days ago." Lei nodded. "So…we're all going to the same school."

"Seems like it." Takao grinned. "Heh heh, this would be a school term to REMEMBER! I can't wait to hit school!"

"WOW!" Takao was wide-eyed.

"Wow" was an understatement. From the sun-dappled tree lined walks to the impressive looking building right in the center, and down to the students all hurrying through its many gates, Kyouin Junior High School was a sight to behold. 

"Kyouin Junior High School, home to Japan's best junior high school soccer team and a stepping stone to its premier senior high schools," Max told them. "At least that's what I've heard."

"I can't believe I'm actually JUNIOR HIGH!" SD Takao was practically dancing. "Heh heh, not only would it be the home of the best junior high soccer team, it would also be the home of the BEST BEY BLADERS IN THE WHOLE WORLD~~~!!!"

They entered the gates and they all went to the bulletin board set up front on which the sections with their respective students' names were listed.

"Section II-A," Mao announced.

"Section III-A," Lei and Rai both answered.

"I-A," Max put in.

"I-B." Takao became SD. "Am I to be the only one in B-section right HERE?"

"Don't worry Takao, it's not that bad," Max told him. "I'm pretty sure you'll make it to A section next year."

"I sure hope so…"

"Excuse me."

They all blinked as a tall young girl stood right behind them, her slanted gray eyes expressionless. She cocked her head inquisitively. "Is something the matter?"

"Uh…nothing." Max blinked.

"IF you don't mind." With that, the girl passed right through the middle of the entire group, her long straight shiny jet-black hair falling down far below her waist in one shimmering banner.

SD Mao was fuming. "Who does she THINK she IS?!"

"Trouble," Rai said, blinking at how a lady could be so indifferent.

"Come on, we're running LATE!" Lei nodded. "See you recess!"

Max was reading through his thick history book when he overhears a couple of students in his classroom a little while later.

"He's half-American?"

"Yes. He's from Sendouji…"

"Wow…"

"His father owns the Bey Blade Hobby Shop that opened just a few days ago."

"So that means he's THAT Max Mizuhara of the BBA TEAM~~~?!"

"Yes! Hey, did you see that Chinese guy and that loud boy from B-section?! They're BBA Team members TOO!"

"WOW!"

There was general chaos as the teacher came in, dressed in a business suit. "Good morning class. Now, before we do roll call, I would like to say that we have a very important guest staying in for a week. As part of the Japanese government's efforts to promote goodwill among different schools of the metropolis, the Department of Education has launched a campaign for an exchange student program for 2 quarters until semestral break. Each student representative would be staying over to study, participate in activities; and share everything about the school he came from, whereas the host school would basically share everything with him. Now, we are lucky to have been chosen as host school to a representative from St. Magdalen Junior High School in uptown Tokyo. I trust you know what that means."

"Wow…they say only children of the wealthiest people go there…"

"Not only that, they're also INTELLIGENT!"

"And cute looking!"

"And we're lucky enough to play as host 'family' of sorts to that representative." The teacher nodded. "I trust you'll all be on your best behavior. Alright, you may come in."

"…" The sliding door of the classroom slid open. And they all gazed eagerly as to who might be it.

"Shizue Tsukigata," the girl said, her lovely gray eyes unblinking. "I am very honored to be here with you, and I'm very glad."

"Wow…HEY! Isn't she that girl from the Fuyutsuki SHRINE?!"

"Yes…"

"She's the _Miko_ there…no wonder all guys wanted to visit that shrine. She's way too HOT."

"Class, Miss Tsukigata would be your classmate from this day onwards till the end of 2 quarters. Please be all nice to her."

Max's eyes were wide. It's that girl from the bulletin board fiasco.

Shizue Tsukigata looked over at him, and their eyes locked.

Max gulped.

He had a strange feeling that girl's pure trouble all right.

Starting with the fact that the teacher said Max would be her "tour guide" of sorts.


	3. Here Comes TROUBLE!

A New Team?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: YAY! It's my weekly FANFIC FIX~~~!!! Thanks so much for putting up with ME! I WILL update WEEKLY!

Comments, flames, suggestions are all highly appreciated. E-mail me whenever you feel like it! ARIGATOU! ^o^

And HEY! I did promise you Bookie, Fluffychans and A-leng a GREAT reward. 8] Stay tuned for one of my next

chappies.

Max was TOTALLY drained by the time it was dismissal.

"Hey, Max? Are you OK?" Takao asked him, worried.

"Yeah," Max answered him. "I'm just...TIRED, is all."

"Wow, coming from hyperactive Max, that IS most STRANGE," Rai told him.

"Yes, we've heard you're to look over after the St. Magdalen representative," Lei added. "What's the representative like?"

"She's the girl we saw at the bulletin board this morning," Max replied. "Her name's Shizue Tsukigata."

"WHAT?!" Mao was surprised. "That HORRID girl?!"

"Yes," Max told her. "I feel like I'm a diplomatic security officer or something..."

"Why, did she act like she's some high-born Lady?!" Mao asked.

"She IS a Lady." Max nodded. "Her family is ancient Japanese nobility, and has ties to the Imperial Family by way of her father. She lives in their ancestral shrine in the outskirts of uptown Tokyo. She's the _Miko_ there."

"A _Miko_?" SD Lei was blinking. "What's THAT?"

"A priestess," Takao answered for Max. "But that's weird. Why would she choose to become a _Miko_ is way beyond me. Usually, parents would pressure her to marrying somebody of their own rank or even higher."

"She's different. By the way those guys were staring at her a while ago, you'd think this is the 1st time they've ACTUALLY seen a girl in their entire lives." Max sighed. "Totally drained the 1st day, I wonder what would happen NEXT?"

"Surprise us." Rai laughed. "She'll start to demand footmen to chase after her wherever she goes?"

"Let's just hope that won't happen." Takao nodded, then raised his closed fist in the air. "Come on everybody, let's hit the ARCADE~~~!!!"

"So, Shizue met them already?"

"Yes. Everything is going as planned."

"Too bad she's to be babysitted by one of them." A girl with dark blue hair and a single sky blue bang (^^;; you get the idea) set her empty glass on the table, the cube ice inside tinkling softly. "Any news from the Abbey?"

"No, not a word. The Lady is most distressed."

"Hmm." The girl frowns. "This is MOST distressing, indeed. The Bey Blade Qualifiers is just a few days away."

"Do not worry, we shall receive word from them any day now. At least that's what the Lady tells us."

"Hmmph!" The girl tossed her head irritably to one side. "I do not see the point why we should be made to wait like this. And watch those stupid brats for that MATTER."

"Patience, dear Medain, PATIENCE." The woman in front of her set down her delicate china cup. "But, as the Lady had said, patience is not one of your strong virtues."

"Yeah, we leave THAT to Cerridwen." There was a scraping of a chair as she stood up. "But nobody, I say, NOBODY, makes me, Medain Jade Summer, WAIT. I'll see you when I see you."

"Lady Medain!" The woman stood up as well. "We~~~"

"Hmmph! Tell the Lady to hurry up or I'll be forced to immediately destroy their Beys when I SEE them. IS that CLEAR?!" Medain Jade Summer pouted, then left the restaurant. "See you around, Esther." 

"Wait..."

"Your bill, Madame."

"Yes..." Esther Brimwell set 5 pieces of crisp 20 pound notes distractedly on the table and the waiter's eyes widen. "Madame...?"

"Keep the change," Esther told him with a wave of her hand. Then she leaves after Medain. 

"Oh LOOK! Bey Blade QUALIFIERS~~~!!!" SD Takao was sparkly eyed. "I want to GO!"

"Mmm-hmm, and this time around, we're going to make a fool out of you, Kinogu," Rai says with a laugh. "The Chinese Team is all set to kick you upside your ASS."

"Hah, just TRY me! I've been practicing with Dragoon after the Finals match with Yuri Ivanov!" SD Takao was positively deliriously happy by now. "I've a couple of new MOVES, plus I~~~"

There was a flurry of flying limbs and an astonished yelp from somebody as they turned around the corner and bumped into~~~

"Watch it, you BRAT~~~!!!" Medain yells. "Are you BLIND?!"

"Geez, SORRY!" Takao rubbed his head. 

Medain stands up and brushes the dust from her arms a little irritably. She glares at Takao. "If you can't even spot a glaringly red elephant from 20 miles off, don't even think of walking down the STREET~~~!!!"

Mao glared at her. "What's your problem, you brat?! You're the one who was blind enough to walk right into us right across the street and you have the temerity to~~~"

"You're a member of the Chinese Bey Blade TEAM?!" Medain asks suddenly.

"Yes, what of IT?" Mao answered her.

"I'll let that insult from you lowlifes pass if you defeat ME." Medain's orange eyes glinted with mischief. "Or are you just CHICKEN?"

Lei couldn't believe that there was somebody that ill-mannered on the face of the planet.

"~~~~" Mao was glaring at her. "You're ON!"

Mao was glaring at the girl right across her from the field a little while later. "Don't come crying to me, begging me to STOP, if your Bey's all sliced UP!"

"Hah, I wonder who'll do the BAWLING?!" Medain smirked. "Throw me your Garrox for all I care. I assure you, I'll DESTROY that horrid pink Bey so FAST you won't have time to BLINK!"

"This is getting way out of hand," Max commented as he watched the 2 ladies confront each other in Bey combat.

"You're telling me," Takao told him. "Where's Professor when you need HIM?!"

"Alright, Bladers at the READY!" Rai was saying. "3...2...1...GOOO....SHHHOOOOTTTT~~~~!!!"

Mao jumps and releases Garrox. "Go GARROX~~~!!! FURY SLICE~~~!!!"

Garrox emitted a bright pink glow and Mao's -Holy Beast- springs up, determined to move in for the kill.

"HMMPH!" Medain hurls her black Bey Blade towards the unsuspecting Garrox. "SOLEIDES~~~!!! SOUL DERVISH, NOW~~~!!!"

There was an ominous build-up of black clouds in the heavens as Medain's black Bey emitted a black light and out springs her -Holy Beast-. It was...

"!!!" Takao's eyes went wide. "A...BLACK DRAGON~~~?!"

The Black Dragon roared and a furious tornado swirled about him. Mao's amber yellow eyes widened and was thrown off by the sheer force of the tornado and hit the ground with such brute impact all the wind was knocked out of her.

"~~~!!!" Lei was aghast. "MAO~~~!!!"

Garrox flies out into the air, the pink -Holy Beast- mewling in pain. It promptly got totally destroyed in the process, all its parts flying by, and the central bit cracked as well.

It fell to the ground right before Medain. There was a horrible crunch as Medain smirked and stepped on what remained of the Garrox and crushed it finely with her foot, including the central bit. "Hmmph! I guess winning the Russian Finals got a little too much for your pea-sized brains. Do not think this is the end of it. In fact, every end has its beginning."

Lei looked up from cradling the unconscious Mao in his arms, his amber yellow eyes narrowed in indescribable anger. "You...HORRIBLE..." 

"HAH! I wasn't kidding, right?!" Medain caught her black Bey deftly with her hand then smirked again. "See you in the Zero Finals, you pathetic lowlifes. I don't think even a hundred lifetimes would do good for your training in order to defeat US."

"US?!" Takao shook his head. "Zero Finals...WAIT~~~!!! Who are YOU?!"

"Medain Jade Summer, member of the Wing Blades," Medain said promptly. "See you around." With that, Medain leaves.

And in her passing...the start of the Abbey mystery. 


	4. The Mysterious Lady in White

The Lady in White

AUTHOR'S NOTES: YAY! I'm on my weekly fix again. Sorry, GOMEN to all readers out there I've kept waiting, my family and I went on this little vacation last weekend and we had a GRAND family reunion of sorts, complete with aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews, and all the works. I was too drained to even lift a finger, let alone type. Anyway, thanks for putting up with me!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bey Blade, its characters, its Beys, and its many locales. I own the original characters, Beys, and whipped-up locales portrayed herein. Since this is a beginning of a series of whatnots about Celtic, Japanese, and Chinese mythology thrown in, I will try to explain the mythological terms signified by the superscripted tiny numbers. E-mail me if you're ever confused about anything. BTW, I can't seem to use my new e-mail address because of some frigging missing cookies; use my eduin_goddess@yahoo.com address if you ever want to ask about anything. OK, on with the SHOW!

There was a sound of a lone piano playing in the stillness of the Abbey, a beautiful tune that was heard throughout the centuries-old edifice. It was a gay little tune, speaking of many bright happy things in the delicate interplay of notes and scales played with a delicacy matching its own.

There was a series of heavy footsteps heard underneath the playing piano in the background, heavy footsteps that trod the cloistered halls of the Abbey and led to the main quarters of the Lady who lived there.

The footsteps stop at the door, and the music stopped almost immediately.

"Come in."

The door opens, and a man in a heavy black coat enters the room. "Lady Celes, I am most honored. To call me and come forth before your very presence...!"

"At ease, my kind gentleman. It is I who am most honored." A small pale hand gestured towards the silver tea set on the small table by the piano. "Tea? Biscuits?"

"No, thank you very much."

"I insist. It's been quite a long while since we saw each other last. The last time we saw each other was at Ascot."

"Yes...quite right indeed, Lady Celes1. You still remember an insignificant little soul like me..."

There was a soft clink as the figure in white stood up and poured them some tea. "I trust you have news for me...great news?"

"The Russian Finals are over. You went over and watched the victors, alright..."

"Yes. I know that already." The figure clasped her hands together. "What of their team?"

"They are to join the Qualifiers as planned. Lady Medain has done her part extremely well."

"It was NOT as rough as planned, but otherwise, it is alright." The figure sat on the chair in front of the man. "Medain is giving you problems?"

"Not after 'that' incident. Esther was afraid she might actually go on a Bey breaking spree."

"Such an impatient soul, that young one. She wants to get right on her job very quickly. It is for this reason why she was 'chosen'." The small white hand reached into the inner part of her robes and pulled out a long thin white envelope. "Please hand this to Cerridwen2 for me."

"Yes, my Lady." 

"And tell Medain that she would get to her job as quickly as she would like. I am sure the Balkov Monastery would be in uproar by now."

"Yes, my Lady."

"Good. You may take leave of me."

The man bows, then leaves the room.

"..." The figure in white sat right in front of the beautiful stained glass windows inside the room, which by now was dazzling with filtered colored sunlight. It was revealed that she was a beautiful woman with wavy dark auburn hair the color of wine and mint green eyes, dressed in an all-white outfit that flowed about her like mist, a medallion of a graceful Madonna at her throat.

She smiled.

"It would begin by now. Then everything should fall to chaos." 

Esther was beside herself. "You didn't have to do THAT!"

"This whole trip was boring me. Besides, I needed some exercise." Medain was lying on her hotel bed, moving her free leg like so, her arms beneath her head. "Hmph. She was a LOT weaker than I first thought."

"What if our cover was BLOWN?! Have you ever thought about THAT?!" Esther was walking back and forth across the room. "We don't want the Balkov Monastery to know of our little plan until it's TIME!"

"That's OUR plan. Or have you forgotten already? " Medain snorted. "Don't get all your knickers in a twist; besides, they're bound to know, anyway. I'm pretty sure that balding old geezer must be pulling at his hair by now. Or what's left of IT."

"You're short of being totally IMPOSSIBLE." Esther threw her hands in the air exasperatedly then grabbed her bag. "I have to talk to the Lady about this. Would it be too much for me to ask you to stay here while I make a phone call?"

"Go burn the frigging overseas lines for all I CARE." Medain reached out and put her MP3 player ear phones (^^;;) in her ears. "Don't worry about me, that fight totally bored me to DEATH. I guess I'll just hang around here and listen to some sweet chin music while you make your stupid little report, which I could safely say must have reached the ears of the Lady by NOW."

"You better be NOT joking, Medain." Esther pulled the door of their hotel room open. "I'm going."

The door slammed shut behind her. Medain pouted again then closed her eyes.

Time for some little relaxation.

"Really, really, REALLY?!" There was a protesting loud squeak as somebody jumped off the sofa very eagerly. "I can't wait!"

"Hold on a little bit, Kikka, don't get too excited," the old man says, laughing. "It would be quite some time before we manage to locate those 2."

"But, HEY, we're in JAPAN, right?! They're going to the Qualifiers!" Kikka Reinholt was positively jumping up and down in excitement. "They're to scope out the next contenders for the Zero Finals going to be held at Finland. I'm pretty sure they're excited about it like I am, too!"

"I don't know with those 2," the old man replied. "Cerridwen and you I understand...but...the 2 Ogre Sisters?! Don't get your hopes WAY up for them. Trust me, they're going to treat this little 'diversion' like they're having some exciting root canal operation."

"I'm pretty sure they're going to be AWESOME Bladers," Kikka said, her red brown eyes blinking. "They couldn't have won the Russian Finals if they weren't, right?"

"Quite right." The old man smiled. "Or is it because you want to get a piece of them?"

"Heh! My buddy and I were getting a little bored after that trip from Germany, what with Mama's constant shrill advisories in the background, telling me to act like a lady. But she approved of my Abbey scholarship. Go FIGURE." Kikka sat right down on the sofa again. "When would we be meeting Selenay and Cerridwen?"

"The little French princess should be meeting up with us once we get to Greece for the Zero Finals pre-tournament. I understand it's the middle of the prep season, and she has to be in her ABSOLUTE BEST considering the little amount of clothes she has." The old man snorted. "It's a miracle Medain could STILL stand her." 

"Well, how could she help it, her mother's a very famous fashion model, and her father's a Duke." Kikka grinned. "Don't worry about her, Mr. Engstrom, I'll house break her for you once we see each other in Greece."

"Do that, Kikka. That would be a VERY great help for the rest of HUMANITY."

"Right." Kikka laughed. "And Cerridwen would be coming along for the ride, too?"

"Mmm-hmm. The little fire pixie would come along with Selenay. She's been pretty busy with her final adjustments; she's done with your Bey recap stats and all should be ready in time for the pre-tournament."

"Good, good." Kikka nodded. "It's a shame she wasn't able to make it to the Japan leg, along with Medain and Shizue and me. She's a complete _otaku_ nut, and she's been dying to go here ever since the day she saw that Hello Kitty pillow her Briar Abbey housemate keeps in her multimillion pound apartment-suite."

"You're telling me. I hear she's seriously at work on her latest masterpiece. It's a shame her parents don't like the way she does things she considers very fulfilling." Hans Engstrom nodded. "Alright, we've reached the mainland. Be careful, Kikka."

"Roger that, Mr. Engstrom!" Kikka gave him a crisp salute. "The Abbey would be VERY proud of me."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

1Celes - the Roman goddess of agriculture (Ceres). Demeter is her Greek counterpart.

2Cerridwen - the Celtic goddess of spirit and wisdom. Famous for her cauldron whose 3 precious droplets (!) could make anybody all-knowing.


	5. The Qualifiers

The Qualifiers

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Supposed to be twice weekly fix...^^;; Anyway, thanks for supporting me ALL the way. I really appreciate it. Fluffychans, Bookie, and to those who gave their unwavering support for this fic, ARIGATOU! Now on with the show!

That morning was unusually bright and sunny. Takao had managed to gulp down his entire breakfast in less than 10 minutes then reached out for his glass of cold water. Grandfather Kinogu raised an eyebrow.

"Bey practice," Takao told him. Then he grabbed his coat and just as he was about to dash through the door~~~

"KAI?!" Takao blinked. "What THE~~~"

"Just heard about the Qualifiers," Kai said, his red brown eyes expressionless. "You're really gonna go for IT?"

"Uh...YEAH...that's the POINT..." Takao blinked again. "Kai...what...are those...CLOTHES?"

"What of it?"

"Uh..."

"Hey, TAKAO!" Max screeched to a halt right outside Takao's house, then his eyes widened upon seeing Takao's visitor. "KAI?! Is that YOU?!"

"..." Kai turned SD. "So I've NOTICED. I've been asked that same question by 5 people I passed by before coming here."

"Uh..."

"Never MIND." Kai frowned. "So you're all going to sign up for the Qualifiers?"

"Yeah." Takao scratched his chin. "Forget that for a while, though. When did YOU get BACK?"

"2 days ago. Russia was one complete bedlam, and I had to get some things straight first before heading back here." Kai stared at the 2 of them. "So you're going to the same school."

"Uh, yeah. Along with Lei and Mao and Rai." Max blinked. "You're going to THAT prep school in uptown Tokyo, RIGHT?"

"Yes." Kai looked at his watch. "I'm running late as it is. See you guys later."

"Hey...WAIT~~~!" Takao calls after him. "You've signed up for the Qualifiers too?"

"Never miss any Bey battle for the world," Kai said with a wave. "Later."

Max and Takao stared after Kai, then they looked at each other. Huge sweatdrops appeared over their heads.

"Definitely NOT Kai." The 2 of them turned SD and chased after their mysterious quiet teammate who by now has become even more mysterious. "Kai, WAIT~~~!!!"

"Kai's signed up TOO?" Lei asked, his amber yellow eyes wide.

"Yeah, he told us THAT," Takao said over a mouthful of mung bean sprouts. "He was just quiet about the whole frigging deal, he's not telling us anything YET. Just that he's signed up."

"..." Lei had his hand to his chin. "He's never acted so mysteriously like this before..."

"You're telling us! I mean, we know him to give us a couple of cryptic stuff about some things he knows we DON'T, but this time around, there's totally NOTHING." Max blinked as he stuck his straw inside his milk carton. "Gee, now I'm beginning to think that THIS is another one of the Borg's newest 'plays', so to speak. And we are its unsuspecting actors again."

"But they've been dissolved in the Russian Finals Tournament..." Takao mused. "I mean, we defeated them already...RIGHT?"

"It was a big 'maybe' then, Takao," Lei reminded him. "Kai's grandfather disappeared right after that last match between you and Yuri, right? Nobody knows where he is right now."

Complete silence reigned. The 3 BBA Team members were seated in the school's cafeteria that lunch time, musing over Kai's erstwhile very mysterious behavior and the "involvement" of the Borg, if it was possible, in the Qualifiers for the Bey Blade Pre-Finals match going to be held in Greece. 

Rai went over to their table a little while later. "Hey, why the long faces? It's not as if it's the end of the world or something."

"It is. Kai's back from the dead," Max told him.

"So? You're ALL supposed to be HAPPY! I mean, it's been quite a while before you heard from that super duper quiet teammate of yours, right? Why are you all mournful?" Rai said.

"He's become even more mysterious," Takao told him. "He know something that he's NOT telling."

"He'd tell you guys about it, don't worry. He's been always like that, right?" Mao sat beside Lei. "And besides, if he didn't tell you, you could always kick him instead."

"We could do that, Mao, but he'd have Dranzer send us bolting for the hills before we could even move a millimeter towards him to kick him upside his ass," Takao replied. He sighed. "Whatever. This talk is going nowhere. We might as well give up on the subject matter and just head over to the center later."

"Yup. You are SO right." Max held up an open bag of Frito Lay's. "Anybody care for some sour cream and onion?"

The Bey Blade Registration and Arena Center was full of people when the 5 of them arrived that afternoon.

"Too bad Gao and Keiki are not around," Rai said. "This sounds like FUN."

"So many PEOPLE..." SD Takao was wide-eyed. "Are they all here to Bey, TOO?"

"Keep your eyeballs in, Kinogu, we wouldn't want them go popping and rolling all OVER the damn floor." Kai appeared, still dressed in his St. Magdalen uniform for boys: a dark gray coat and trousers with the school seal emblazoned on its left breast pocket, a crisp white polo shirt, and a maroon and gold under sleeveless sweater (^^;;) topped off by a maroon tie at his neck with the school seal on its hanging part that fell to Kai's diaphragm. Lei, Mao, and Rai all stared at him as though he'd suddenly sprouted horns and bat wings and a swirly pointy tail at the back.

Kai frowned. "WHAT?"

"Errh...NOTHING." Lei blinked. "Gosh, Kai..."

"Before you all decide to go 'eyeball popping' on ME, I have to say something very important to you." 

"Uh...OK, we're listening."

"We're going to have a new teammate."

"HEY! Since WHEN did you have the RIGHT to say who's IN our TEAM?! I'm supposed to be the TEAM CAPTAIN~~~!!!" SD Takao yells, his teeth jagged fangs.

"..." A black leather shoe shod foot came into view right behind Kai. "You're still as exuberant and as noisy as always, Takao Kinogu."

Max, Lei, Rai, Mao, and Takao all turned to look. Takao's hair stood on end.

"Y...YURI~~~?!"

"What, is there a PROBLEM?" Yuri Ivanov frowned. "It's not like I wanted to. So don't you forget it."

"But...but..." SD Max's eyes turned to little beads. "How..."

"Taking care of a little 'business'." Kai nodded. "Yuri's going to be our new teammate. Chairman Daitenji wants us to become good to him, and treat him as part of the BBA Team from this point on. Any more questions?"

Takao raised his hand. "You're not going to do that freaky iceberg thing to me again?"

"ABSOLUTELY." Kai looked around. "Any more sensible questions aside from that no-brainer question from Kinogu?"

"HEY!"

"How about...what the HELL are you lowlifes doing HERE?" Medain frowned. "Geez, talk about a major bummer. Is this the pathetic low quality this country has to offer in terms of 'quality' Bey Bladers?!"

The BBA Team and the 2 White Tigers turned to look. Medain, Shizue, and a little girl they still didn't know was standing right behind them, Medain giving them the "look". Max blinked. "Uh...Tsukigata-san...?"

"She may not look like it, but YEAH, she's definitely a BEY BLADER." Medain blinked. "So when are you going to answer my QUESTION?"

"Summer..." Yuri said, his frown deepening. Shizue blinked, and the little girl's face lit up.

"YURI~~~!!!" The girl turned SD, her eyes becoming sparkly. "WOW wow WOW when did you come BACK~~~?!"

Medain raised an eyebrow.

"Did the Borg actually become SO desperate as to have the likes of you join this sorry, ragtag TEAM? Whoo, where is this world coming TO?"

"..."

"If you're looking for Cerridwen, sorry, she's still stuck back at England, trying to make sense of our recap stats," Medain told him. "Don't worry, though, we'll have a grand reunion in Greece. Provided the Abbey's Concorde hasn't broken down AGAIN."

"HEY~~~!!!" Takao waved his arms right in front of Medain. "Who are you calling LOWLIFES?!?"

"..." Medain looked at the entire BBA Team and the 2 members of the White Tiger Team (sans Yuri). "I'm looking right at THEM. Sheesh, don't you guys even come with a frigging BRAIN?!"

"What the~~~" Rai began.

"This is SO boring. Let's go, Shizue, Kikka. We wouldn't want to be seen with them, they might give us lowlife disease." Medain waved. "See you around, wussies."

"~~~~" SD Mao turned into a full-blown ogre by the time the 3 of them were out of earshot. "WHO does she think she IS~~~?! I'LL SCALP HER EVEN IF THAT'S THE LAST THING I WOULD DO~~~!!!"

The little girl came running back to them again, turning SD with an apologetic look on her face.

"Please forgive the 2 Ogre Sisters, Medain's just on a particularly vile mood today," the girl said. "And by the way, I'm Kikka Reinholt. It's SO nice to meet you! I'm looking forward to seeing you all in GREECE!" Kikka grinned. Then she ran after Medain and Shizue again.

"..." SD Lei's eyes turned into little beads.

"Just what we NEED. The Wing Blades." Yuri shook his head. 

"Uh...you KNOW them, Yuri?" Max asked.

"They're only a group of very powerful Bladers from the St. Ingrid Abbey in England," Yuri explained. "They're the only other team who managed to defeat us before we even met you."

"???" SD Takao blinked. "Wait a minute, I thought you guys were still undefeated..."

"By way of 'normal' Bey battling, yeah," Yuri replied. "But in terms of 'serious' Bey battling...they defeated us. Whom did you get to fight among the 3 of them?"

"That noisy one," Rai answered.

"Medain's really tough, as with the other 2, but the real terror of the Wing Blades are the 2 other missing members you still haven't met yet. Those 2 are the most vicious and most frightening Bladers I had ever encountered. I'd stay away from them if I were you, but now that we're in here already, there's no other choice left but to fight."

"Uh...OK." Takao blinked. "So who's Cerridwen?"

"..." Yuri just headed straight for the main entrance. "Let's get going or we'll all be late."

"..." Mao blinked as Yuri left, then looked at them.

"Did Yuri Ivanov just BLUSH right NOW?" she asked in amazement.

Kai blinked. 

"Let's just all head on in," Lei said. "This day's weird enough as it is already." 


	6. The Return of the Shell Killers

BBA Team VS Shell Killers:

Kai VS Kibano

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Why the HELL are they even here? Hmm...to get back at Kai, I guess. His grandfather must have done something really horrible to them as to make them abhor Kai's very existence (but who WOULD hate KAI?! well, except for Takao, that is, whenever he's on his grouchy mood). And, HEY! The Wing Blades actually think they have a really worthy opponent in the BBA Team (due to the fact Yuri's there, too). OK, people, let's all get ready to rip IT~~~!!!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bey Blade and all its characters, locales, and Bey Blades; I own all original characters, locales, and Bey Blades portrayed herein. The Shell Killers, although they have retained their name, is now composed of new characters I just made up: Bey Blade owns the Shell Killers name but I own the characters in it...do you get it? OO;; In any case, don't sue me. 

"GOOOOOOOODDDDD AAAAAFFFTTTEEEEEEERRRRNNOOOOOOOONNNN~~~!!!" DJ was grinning very widely at the very appreciative audience filling up the entire Bey Stadium to the bursting. "Hello and welcome again, Bey Blade fans, to another very exciting and awesome BEY MATCH! Welcome to the BEY BLADE JAPAN QUALIFIERS~~~!!!"

The audience cheered very wildly. Medain, who was sitting in the front row along with Shizue and Kikka, was not impressed. "Sheesh. Some of them don't even deserve to be called as Bladers...they're such pathetic little wussies."

"In any case, Medain, we still have to be careful." Shizue nodded. "I mean, they couldn't have defeated Team Russia THAT easily if they were just plain wussies, right? In any case, the way they beat Yuri's team...it's just a matter of sheer devil's luck."

"And they wouldn't defeat us, even if they spend SO many hours practicing," Kikka told her. "The closest thing they could do to even harm us is give Soleides some free 'dust bath'. And that's still when you're not taking them very seriously yet."

"AND NOW...let me give you our beloved chairman of the Bey Blade Battle Association...everybody, let's all give a round of applause...to CHAIRMAN GOGORO DAITENJI~~~!!!"

The audience cheered just as wildly again. Chairman Gogoro Daitenji smiled as he went up the stage to where DJ was standing, then took the microphone from him. He nods.

"Welcome, welcome, to another exciting Bey Blade Tournament! As you all probably know, this is the Japan leg of the Qualifiers that is occurring all over the world as we speak; the purpose of this tournament is to select our champion that would be representing us in the Pre-Finals Tournament that is going to be held in Greece. The winners of the Pre-Finals would then fly off to Finland for the ultimate showdown between champions from all around the WORLD!"

"Wow, the Bey Blade Zero Finals..." one of the audience muttered.

"?" Takao blinked. "Zero...Finals...?"

"HEY!" Professor suddenly burst through the many people that stood by the ring side, then grabbed Takao's school uniform sleeve in the process. "TAKAO!"

"Professor! Where have you BEEN?" Max blinked. "Wait a minute..."

"Did I miss out on anything good while I was still outside the stadium?" Professor asked them. "Getting through the gates was a REAL nightmare; I almost had my laptop torn off one time too many before getting here..."

"Not much," Lei told him. "Except that we met the Wing Blades, Kai goes to that uptown prep school, and Yuri's our new teammate."

"Wing BLADES?!" Professor's eyes (^^;;) became wide. "Did you just say WING BLADES?!"

"Huh? Why? Do you know them?" Takao asked him, blinking.

"Professor turned SD. "THIS IS MY LUCKY DAY~~~!!! WOW~~~!!!"

Mao blinked. "Errh, Professor..."

"Is Cerridwen there, is SHE?!" SD Professor's eyes poured over with tears in wavy torrents. "Is she THERE?!"

"Calm down," Kai told him. "Why don't you ask Yuri about IT?"

"Yuri~~~" SD Professor was pulling at Yuri's St. Magdalen boys' uniform's sleeve. "CERRIDWEN~~~"

"Let go of my sleeve, you SHRIMP!" SD Yuri's teeth turned to jagged fangs. "Do you have any MANNERS?!"

"Uh...PROFESSOR?!" Max blinked again. "How do you know~~~"

"Cerridwen, CERRIDWEN~~~!!!" SD Professor was sobbing. "Please tell me CERRIDWEN'S here~~~"

"Yuri?" Lei blinked. "Who is this Cerridwen anyway and why is Professor acting so weird about it?"

"..." Yuri was just quiet.

SD Takao's eyes turned to sly little slits. "Let me make a wild guess. She's your GIRLFRIEND, eh?"

Max had his hand to his chin. "Cerridwen Ivanov. I don't know, Takao, it sure has an odd ring to it..."

Yuri's fists clenched. "Look, if you don't have anything BETTER to do, let's just get on with IT. And Kinogu...I'm WARNING you. Not ONE WORD ABOUT 'THAT' AGAIN."

He leaves. Takao blinked. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Just becoming the world's most insensitive blockhead, Takao. Other than THAT, I can't think of anything else." Kai sighed, then went off after Yuri. "Let's go." 

DJ was reading names off a piece of paper a little while later.

"Block A, we have BBA, Blade Angels, Firestarters, Shell Killers..."

"!" Kai was surprised. "Shell KILLERS?!"

"Eh?" Mao blinked. "Who are the Shell Killers?"

"Kai's old team before joining up with us," Takao replied. "He used to be the leader of that group."

"Are they good?" Rai asked.

"Well, now that Kai's gone, I have no idea," Max said, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Takao's been telling us they're really ruthless..."

"Really?" Lei blinked.

"They're into things like challenging kids and breaking their Bey Blades just for kicks," Takao said, nodding. "But...after the Russian Tournament~~~"

"Come ON," Kai said, his red brown eyes narrowing.

They all watched as Kai went to the dressing room out back to change. Professor blinked. 

"You're all up a good 30 minutes from now...why don't you all go and freshen yourselves up a bit? Mao, Rai...let's go find some seats..." Professor said.

"OK by us," Max said. "I really want to get out of these clothes. Takao, Lei...let's go."

"...and he moves in for the final BLOW~~~!!! YES! The winners are...the SHELL KILLERS TEAM~~~!!!" 

"Wow, they're really GOOD," Mao said, her amber yellow eyes wide and blinking.

"Kai used to be a part of them?" Rai asked Professor.

"Yeah," Professor replied, not looking up from his laptop. "Very frightening Bladers, if I do say so myself...more frightening than I first imagined. They've become even more RUTHLESS..."

The Bey Battling Tournament, the Japan Qualifiers, had gone on for the last 3 hours already, and the audience is getting more and more excited as time wore on, for the teams who signed up for the Tournament were the best Japan had to offer ever since the BBA Team became famous the world over during the last Finals Tournament held in Russia. They were all REALLY good, and Mao was glade she was able to come along with her older brother outside the White Tiger Valley, or else she wouldn't be able to witness such a very exciting and wonderful spectacle.

And...

"Darn, the pink moppet's right up there with the monkey boy and...what's THAT~~~?! A bespectacled FUNGUS SPECIMEN?!" Medain blinked. "Their fangs and their horrendous carnation pink hair and gaudy sideburns are already enough to send me to retching, and now they have a walking mushroom specimen with them."

"..." Shizue's eyes were short of totally closing. "I'm BORED."

"You said it right...if it weren't for Lady Celes' meddling, we should all be practicing ourselves silly by now," Medain says, frowning. "Why do we NEED to get frightened of THEM? They're just a bunch of WIMPS!"

"But they won the Russian Tournament," Kikka reminded her. "They may not look like it, but they could still be pretty much dangerous to our health if we're not CAREFUL."

"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Medain fumes. "This is such a waste of time. I just can't see why we have to watch those freaks anyway."

Kikka sighed. "I'll just go get something to drink. Do you want anything?"

Shizue looked over at where Kikka was. "Give me strong black coffee. My eyelids are demanding to be stitched shut by now."

"Errh..."

"Cherry Coke," Medain told her. "And be quick about it."

SD Kikka gave a crisp salute. "Yes, Ogre CAPTAIN!"

"Run, you little runt."

Kikka took the steps two at a time and emerged in the topmost aisle leading to the small kiosks outside. She passed by several people who were laughing and talking about the upcoming match, holding several bags of Dorito's and Frito Lay's and huge tumblers of ice cold Coke and Mountain Dew to be taken back to their other companions left in their respective seats. Kikka stood in line and waited to be served when she saw Yuri giving a softdrink vending machine a death glare as he stood in front of it.

"Thanks!" Kikka told the smiling vendor happily, then she went towards Yuri. She smiled easily at him. "Hi, Yuri!"

"Kikka?" Yuri looked over to where she was standing.

"That machine won't give you anything if you're just going to give it a death glare, you know." Kikka blinked. "Is something on your mind, Yuri?"

"It's...nothing."

"RIGHT." SD Kikka gave him a sly little smile. "You MISS her, don't YOU?"

"I do NOT!"

"RIGHT." SD Kikka was giggling. "And I'm the frigging Tooth Fairy."

"..."

"Listen, Medain's going all-out freaky again, I'm not sure if I could talk to Cerridwen regarding..."

"Just forget about it." Yuri waited as an ice cold Sprite rolled out on the collecting bin below the vending machine body, then got it. "Thanks anyway, Kikka."

"But~~~"

"See you in Greece," Yuri said. Then he leaves.

"..." SD Kikka's eyes became little beads as she stood there and stared after Yuri. "I DON'T understand him..."

She blinks then remembers her errand. "Oh NO! I have to bring these to THEM!" With that, the little girl ran off, her short, wispy dark honey hair glinting in the florescent bulbs that lit up the entire pathway of the kiosk avenue.

"ALRIGHT! 2 wins APIECE! It's make or break for both teams as they reach the critical stage of the TOURNAMENT!" DJ raised his arms in the air. "Would the next Bladers step forward for the final BATTLE?!"

"Go get him KAI~~~!!!" Takao yells. "SHOW NO MERCY~~~!!!"

***_You don't have to tell me twice._*** Kai went towards the ringside proper, then glared at his opponent. Ichiro Kibano was just giving him that irritating smirk the whole of the Shell Killers were sporting the entire afternoon into the final battle in the evening.

***_Damn THEM! What are they playing AT?! Is this one of my grandfather's little tricks AGAIN?!_*** Kai's red brown eyes narrowed even further. ***_I'll make this real short and sweet. They'll know who Kai Hiwatari is and by the end of this match they'll be screaming for mercy._*** 

"Are you READY~~~?!" DJ raised his arms again. "EVERYBODY, let's go with the COUNTDOWN~~~!!!"

"3...2...1...GOOOO...SSHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTT~~~~~!!!" the audience yells.

Kibano released his Bey Blade onto the stadium. "Get him, Destra!"

"Go, DRANZER~~~!!!" Kai yells, releasing his famous dark blue Bey onto the smooth concave (OO;;) surface of the standard Bey Stadium, several sparks of electricity curling up about it as it shot around in an ever increasing speed around his enemy.

"..." Takao had his hand to his chin. "I've never seen Kai so furious like this..."

"Yeah." Max blinked. "Cheer up Lei, it's not the end of the world..."

"I know." Lei still looked sad. 

"Look, the whole audience knows you're the REAL winner, not that fraud," Max told him. "So don't get sad about it. Besides, Rai and Mao cheered you ON, right? That's all it matters."

"Yeah. But I feel so ashamed of myself...I shouldn't have let my overconfidence get the better of me..."

"Just let it go Lei, it's finished. It's not your fault that jerk's just a sleight of hand kind of Blader, he could fool the entire judges' panel if he so wanted to. Besides, Chairman Daitenji said that you should've won that battle fair and square, if it weren't for some 'biased' officials," Takao told his friend. "Smile, OK?"

"Alright." Lei smiled faintly. "Thanks, Takao, I really needed that."

"Good."

"...DRANZER SENDS DESTRA OFF THE STADIUM~~~!!! Could this be the END of the mighty Shell Killers TEAM~~~?!"

"You'll never be able to show your faces here AGAIN~~~!!!" Kai clenches his fists. "DRANZER~~~!!! RED SNIPER~~~!!!"

A furious burst of flames surrounded Dranzer, and the Red Sparrow shoots out from its central bit, screeching for all its worth. Kibano's eyes became wide. "WHAT~~~"

Dranzer plowed right through Destra, which shattered the Bey upon the merest touch of the flames that surrounded the dark blue Bey Blade. Mao had her hands to her mouth.

"WOW..."

Medain blinked. "Hmm?"

DJ blinked, then raised his arms again. "This fight's FINISHED! The winner is Kai Hiwatari from the BBA TEAM~~~!!! They're our representatives to the Pre-Finals in GREECE~~~!!!"

"YAY~~~!!!" SD Takao was jumping up and down in glee, while Max was cheering wildly.

Kai got Dranzer and was about to walk away when Kibano gave a soft laugh.

"That was just the beginning, Hiwatari. Better watch your back real good. We'll be coming for you."

Kai looked over his shoulder slightly, his red brown eyes narrowed and set. "I would love to see you try and do that, Kibano. I'll be waiting."

Kai leaves with a slight flutter of his scarf. Medain stood up.

"Seems like there are 2 worthy adversaries on the wussy team." Medain shook her head. "I am a tiny bit impressed."

"Hee, we'll see them in Greece," Kikka said, smiling. "I can't WAIT!"

"Me either." Shizue nodded. "Come on, the plane's all ready to go."

"I thought your father's using it...?"

"He used my grandfather's." Shizue flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Let's go."

With that, the Wing Blades left for Greece. Little did they know, somebody was watching from the sidelines.

And she was pleased to see what had come out of it.


	7. A Little Princess and Then Some

A Little Princess

AUTHOR'S NOTES: It's off to Greece, everybody! Takao can't wait to hit Medain (although not in THAT kind of way, folks...O.O;;), Max's all for the scenery and doing tourist-y things, Lei meets an old friend, Kai's very quiet, and Yuri's in understandable yearning pangs on the side. On an added note, it's the advent of the little French Princess, Selenay Herrault! Plus, the coming of...WHITE DRANZER?! Enjoy! :)

"YAY! We FINALLY made IT~~~!!!" SD Takao was grinning as soon as he stepped off the bus that took them straight to their hotel from the airport. "I can't believe we're actually HERE!"

"Don't go swinging through the revolving doors, Takao, or we'll forget you ever existed," Kai told him quietly as he came down after the overly genki 13 year-old and his 2 other teammates.

"Heh heh heh! MAN! I'm really HUNGRY," Takao said, oblivious to Kai's dagger looks of pure hatred. "I wonder what's for breakfast?"

"Gee Takao, I thought downing ALL those 18 deluxe _o-bento_ packed meals back at the airport was your BREAKFAST," SD Professor asked, blinking.

"Nah, that was ONLY his APPETIZER." Max grinned. "Yup, he's the Omega Metabolizer, Takao Kinogu. I wouldn't be too surprised if he totally drains the ENTIRE hotel reserves of food."

"Sure hope not, or else we'll have 600 guests breathing fire down our necks," Kai fumes. 

"THAT, and flying claws and feet." Lei blinked. "They're staying here too?"

They all looked to where Lei was staring at. Sure enough, 3 sleek limousines came one after the other, from which emerged Medain, Shizue, and Kikka.

Kikka waved gaily at them. 

"Oh NO," Max mutters.

Takao swelled up like a very angry bullfrog.

"Fancy meeting YOU here," Medain mutters as soon as she reached the main entrance of the Royal Astoria Helena. 

"..." Yuri was just quiet.

"WOW! You guys staying here TOO?" SD Kikka asked, blinking.

"Don't worry, we're staying at the OTHER end of the building," Kai told Medain. "Come on, people."

The bellhops came and retrieved the girls' luggage from each of their respective limousines as the BBA Team entered the hotel and went right up to the check-in desk.

"Boy oh boy, this is going to be some INTERESTING trip," Shizue says with a sigh.

"Mmm-hmm!" SD Kikka held up her Nokia Athaelion i150 (I am just making this UP; BTW, I do not own Nokia...don't sue me. PLEASE.). I'm going to send a video of this back to Selenay. She's going to FLIP when she sees THIS!"

"Yeah, she's going to raid the whole of Greece trying to get her Athaelion i180." Medain nods. "Alright, let's go."

Lei sighed as he walked through the Agora, the ancient marketplace of Athens, Greece's capital city. Located at the foot of the Acropolis, the Agora (composed of Keramakios and Thession) beckons with its many shops and quaint taverns where foreign tourists and locals alike enjoy a glass of wine and _ouzo _(a strong colorless liquor) under a sunny, blue cloudless day. There were lots of interesting things to buy, but then again, Lei decided to tighten up his pocket money pouch strings for a while before deciding to splurge on something. It was a tourist's deadly sin.

Lei was looking at some beautiful glass bead jewelry he was thinking of buying Mao when he returns back to Japan when a hand reached out and tapped his shoulder. He turned around and blinked.

"MICHIKO!"

"Hey, it's been quite a while, Kon." Michiko Rinori grinned. With her shiny blondish brown hair, well-developed body belying her true nature as a 13 year-old ace soccer athlete, and beautiful creamy skin that told any boy within a 500 mile radius that Grecian atmosphere totally agreed with her, Michiko was as good as ANY Blader out there can be. She and Lei met some 2 years back, and she was the best traveling buddy he'd ever had when he did his European tour the minute he left White Tiger Valley and had several won Bey battles under his credit. She had been most helpful, letting him stay the entire Grecian run on her family's Greek sea "villa" off the coast of Lesvos, Greece's third biggest island. Her father works as a UN Medical Corps doctor, which explains her volatile international mobility; her mother runs a Greek restaurant somewhere in Athens. Thinking of that made Lei realize that he was somewhere within its vicinity.

"How have you been doing?" Lei smiled at his friend. "I've heard you've terrorized the local all-boys' soccer team and they NEVER showed their faces in the National Finals League..."

"Yep, that's me! They were all so humiliated to even show up at the old soccer field back at the 'villa' the next day, and Philippos and I had belly-aching laughter for weeks." Michiko gave him a playful punch to the shoulder. "Eh, I heard you're doing pretty good yourself."

"Nah, not really," Lei told her. "I just had some good luck, is all."

"Still as humble and as polite as always, Lei Kon. No wonder all those Delphi Drooling Lei Kon Brigade fangirl members are short of actually having instantaneous aneumerysms when they just hear you BLINK." Michiko nodded. "Well, do you want to swing on by and have a glass of _ouzo_ while you tell me stories of your exploits as the Legendary Fanged Blader?"

Lei laughed. "Yeah. I'll do that."

"Bottoms up, Kon." Michiko grinned. "YEAH! Come on, let's go down the street. Mom's going to hyperventilate to know you're back here again." 

SD Max was very giddy when he practically ran down the ancient streets leading to the Acropolis. Several tourists were there with their own tour guides; some were deep in hushed conversations with their cell phones (^^;;); still others were just marveling at the architectural and elegant Hellenistic splendor that was one of the glories of the ancient world.

"WOW!" SD Max nodded. "This is SO WONDERFUL! I wish Mom was here, though." He looked around, and took a whiff of the gentle breezes that fanned the hill. "Ah! Just what I need...the air of ages. Mmm, it feels SO good to be here."

He wandered off, intent on seeing the entire Acropolis as much as exploring it thoroughly. Built of Pentelian marble, the Propylea forms an impressive entrance at the site of the Acropolis which includes a central building with 2 wings. There was the Temple of Apterou Nikes, or the Temple of Athena Nikes, built by the architect Kallikrates, and was completed during the period of 427 - 424 B.C. And the famous Parthenon, built on the ruins of pro-Parthenon, the first great marble temple that was destroyed when the Persians first occupied the Acropolis sometime during 480 - 479 B.C. 

Max was going through his Greece Travel Guide and was lost in his own thoughts when Takao appeared some time later with his tongue sticking out.

"Man...Max...why didn't you wait for ME..."

SD Max grinned happily. "Eh, Takao, you DID say you wanted to experience Greek culture at its best."

"But it doesn't mean that I have to almost barf my insides out chasing you all the way from the hotel up to here," SD Takao said, looking green. "I just ATE."

"What's a little exercise to keep your metabolism going?" Max pointed to where a dozen tourists were standing "Let's hobnob with our fellow tourists! Come ON!"

Max ran off again and SD Takao just sighed. Yup. Going out on a tourist day-off with a sugar high Max was definitely becoming very bad for his health. He should've stayed in with Kai and Professor back at the hotel when he had a chance.

Yuri was just staring off into the calm, blue waters of the Saronic Gulf, where sails of fishing boats out on a day of trawling fish or just plain lazing around were scattered off like many triangular jigsaw puzzle pieces. Sea gulls screeched overhead, and a calm breeze was blowing in from the placid sea.

He never saw the sea. This was the first time he's actually seen one up close, and it was strangely comforting. Life at the Balkov Monastery was really hard, and he could barely remember how his life was before Balkov took him in. He might have come from a seaside village or something, for he found comfort in the waves that lapped gently at the shore. 

He sighed, his eyes becoming confused. It had been all too blurred for him...his newfound freedom from the terrible claws of the Monastery was just getting a little too much for his health, he thought, and he felt listless and his mind was painfully blank. It was strange, trying to act like any normal 15 year old would, and trying to act casual about the whole deal. He had always lived a life filled with harshness and cruelty, and it was hard not to half-expect a double backhand every time he tried to stretch his wings out in the world that was taken so cruelly away from him. It was really hard to believe he was here, and he was very thankful for the Bey Blade Battle Association to take him into their wings when he was hopelessly lost and very much alone, and thankful for his new teammates even if they were still trying to adjust to the fact that their most hated enemy was in there with them. And...

***_Would I be seeing you again soon...?_***

The silhouette of a young slender girl half-turned to face him, the lower part of her face revealed to show a smile of utter tenderness.

***_Don't worry. We'll be seeing each other again...very soon. I'll see you, Yuri..._***

Yuri's eyes became expressive then he turned and walked away from the wharf. But just as he was about to blend inconspicuously into the crowd...

A white blur shoots out and cut across Yuri's right of way, where it ricocheted against the wall of the warehouse and spun right in front of him.

Yuri gazed down at it blankly. As he stared, the object came into focus: it was a white Bey Blade.

It was so strange. Yuri leaned over to pick it up from the ground, where it willingly spun into his palm. It stopped as soon as he inspected it intently.

His eyes widen.

It was pure white in color...but there was no mistaking the central bit.

It was White Dranzer.

He stood there, motionless, as the crowd went about him, like he was nothing more than a mere non-existent shadow. 

What could it possibly mean...?

Yuri glanced sharply to his right. He turned around just in time to see a shadow disappearing off behind one of the warehouse buildings just a few feet away from him.

He broke out in cold sweat.

Was the resurrection of Black Dranzer not too far behind?

"...no. NO! I specifically said EVIAN, not just any tap water. I don't care if it's Perrier! I WANT Evian. Get IT?! Good. Please deliver it by the truckful to the hotel. Make sure it's ice cold. What?! I don't care HOW, haul it inside an iceberg block for all I care, I want my Evian ICE COLD. OK?! Yes. Thanks." Selenay Magdalene Chandralle Saint Couer-Herrault, heiress to the Chateaux Heroux and only daughter of the Duke of Heroux, pouted as she pressed her Athaelion i180 off and stared off into the passing street life right outside her window. "Butlers. You can't live with THEM. What's with a truckful of Evian, anyway? I'm the one who's going to NEED it, not HE."

"Yes, my Lady. He does not know anything."

"If I had my way, I'll have all DHL call centers on hold just to be able to have it delivered this AFTERNOON, but then, Papa has those meetings with the wine barons again," Selenay mutters as she lightly shuddered, as if she was totally revolted at the very thought. "Why is he so persistent about those vineyards anyway, Uncle's just going to ruin everything again. Hn, he should just be spending what he could AFFORD, not what he could afford to dilapidate the WHOLE estate with..." 

"..." The chauffeur just nodded. Only 13, Selenay was the wealthiest prize of those society balls her mother was just so fond of attending, being the heiress of one of the oldest titles of France (^^;; I'm just making this UP...), with a bloodline tracing back to the Middle Ages, to the times of the wealthy lords and manors, and was distantly related to the Bourbons. She was born with the proverbial golden spoon in her mouth, and as she grew up, Selenay had been accustomed to living the life of utmost elegance and luxury, having been to boarding schools spanning 3 European continents and credit cards and her own private yacht sure to make even the hardiest of the old rich to redden with shame. 

But...even with her very privileged status and somewhat spoiled brat demeanor, she was really a soft-hearted person at heart, even if her concerns were of a very frivolous matter. Sure, her vices include weekly Harrod's splurges and Parisian _haute couture_ night-outs, with a little Bvlgari here and there, but that was all that was evil to her. She has a soft spot for animals, and was very much into protection of animal rights, and was a full-fledged vegetarian. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing a sable coat on one glittering evening at the opera with her mother and her mother's friends. And she hates all sorts of softdrinks and goes for all-natural food and juices, and if they want her to go all-out ballistic, all Kikka and Medain have to do was to suggest that they were to have an all-girl night out. And Selenay would practically be screaming throughout the night well into the morning. 

Selenay's Athaelion rang, to which she pressed it on again and held it to her ear. "Hello...? Oh, yes, Miss Lisette. YES, I'm in GREECE. WHAT?! Didn't I leave him a note specifically stating that I'm away on ABBEY BUSINESS?! _Mon DIEU_! Oh, whatEVER. Try to make some sense out of it, and if you have to drop him, then DO it! OK?! Lady Celes would not want to be 'tampered' with, so to speak. _Yes_. GOODBYE." Selenay pouted again as she quickly pressed it off. "I just CAN'T get good help nowadays."

The man she was dropping was just one of her many book keepers seeing to her stocks in London. The chauffeur nodded then just sweatdropped.

Just another day in the life of Selenay Herrault.


	8. Comings and Goings

Comings and Goings

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yup, it's Cerridwen's turn! She arrives in Greece with an unusual quietude that would make even Kikka blink. And...more about Lei and Michiko, plus Kai's little reflections. Who is that mysterious young girl who owns the White Dranzer...and is she related in some way to Kai? Enjoy! :) 

"We have arrived, my Lady. Shall I send for tea?"

"I would be fine, Miss Strothers, I'll just head on over straight to the hotel. I will have my tea there."

"As you wish." Lucinda Strothers nodded over at the pilot of the private Concorde plane. "Send word that Her Ladyship has arrived. Make sure she is to be escorted to the hotel as fast as they can in time for tea."

"Yes, Miss Strothers."

Miss Strothers looked over at the young girl unfastening her seatbelt in front of her. "Would that be all, my Lady?"

"Yes. Thank you very much, Miss Strothers." Cerridwen Aerin Elisabeth Ascot-Elridge nodded then stood up. "Please tell Lady Celes that I have arrived OK."

"Yes, my Lady." 

Miss Strothers watched as Cerridwen made her way to the disembarking hatch (^^;;). In the last 13 years she was employed in Ellincourt, the ancestral manor-palace of the Elridges (distant relatives of the House of Spencer; BTW, I am just making this UP), she was trained to follow this young girl's word as law. She was Britain's wealthiest female catch with her very distinguished and very old title, and is a blue-blooded as one could get (the wealthiest male catch was Jonathan William Ellsey MacGregor; Team Europe's Johnny). Aside from the House of Spencer, her mother was one of the old Ascots of Lancashire, Cerridwen's grandmother being of Greek stock (again, I am making this UP!), being related to the King of Greece. Cerridwen, like Selenay, lived with the proverbial golden spoon in her mouth; having been raised from infancy by a battalion of nannies and governesses that were a staple of any royal household, she always had the best of everything money has to offer. She has also studied in different boarding schools across Europe, has an unlimited supply of credit cards, and had her own custom-made limousines to boot (1 for state functions; 1 for everyday use; 2 for her Abbey use, and 3 for visiting friends or relatives in adjacent manors surrounding their little duchy of Ellincourt). She also went through the paces noble children like her did in coming to London's highest society circles: horseback riding lessons, piano lessons, and being introduced in tea balls and going through every sojourn that was to make her the darling heiress every single blueblood would want to get his hands on.

But in spite of everything, Cerridwen remained to be as kind and as down to earth as any ordinary girl was and treated everybody with respect and as equals. The only major drawback that she had is that she had parents who had a very medieval attitude towards people lower than their own class and especially hated Cerridwen's first love: becoming a full-fledged videogame and _anime otaku_. Cerridwen was quiet and was dreamy and read and wrote all the time; her parents expected her to be as elegant and as proper as any gently brought-up young lady would, and they frowned about her hobbies and insisted that she was to stop all that nonsense and start thinking like a practical young lady with her heart not on her sleeve. She always had the highest grades of her classes, could draw really well, and teachers raved about her genius; she wanted to become an archaeologist, a writer, an inventor, or a _manga_ artist in the near future, but all her father wants is for her to become the Queen of England. In truth, she was unhappy with her life with her parents meddling in all their daughter's affairs, and Medain, Shizue, Selenay, and Kikka felt sorry for her about it. And the only thing her parents hated more than her videogame and _otaku_ affairs is her Bey Blading. But as Kikka would say, the Wing Blades would be no Wing Blades without the Bey tech expertise of Cerridwen Ascot-Elridge, and that was the end of that. It was a good thing Lady Celes was blue-blooded like her, or her parents would never hear the end of it. 

But they still hate her Bey Blading.

Miss Strothers looked over at the pilot.

"Please send word to Lady Celes that Her Ladyship has arrived without incident. And also tell her that the 'operation' has formally begun."

"Yes, Miss Strothers."

"Good." Miss Strothers went off after Cerridwen.

It was going to be one very harrowing experience.

"Eat it up before it gets cold."

"Oh, thanks Aunt Haruko, I've really missed your Greek cooking!"

"I'm beginning to think you only missed the FOOD, Lei, and not the people who introduced it to you in the first place," Haruko Rinori said with a laugh.

Lei gave a sheepish grin. Michiko shook her head. "Mom, you are SO right."

The 3 of them were right inside the Rinoris' very successful Greek restaurant (_Grille for the Gods_), talking over food and drinks (Lei opted for an ice-cold Vanilla Coke). Mrs. Rinori was busy attending to the many customers, tourists and locals alike, with the help of her cooks and waiters. She sometimes does the cooking, if the customer booked her to cook for them, or if one of her cooks had called in sick. The locals raved about her cooking, spreading the restaurant's sumptuous fare to the surrounding cities, for Mrs. Rinori cooked like any native Greek food gourmand, and they were so right about it. She has built a very loyal clientele the last 16 years she has lived in Greece, and the list goes longer and longer every passing day.

"So, how is life treating you?" Mrs. Rinori asked.

"Very good," Lei said, looking up from eating his _prassorizo_ (cabbage rice), along with some fried squid, _gharithes me feta_ (baked shrimp with feta cheese), _lahano dolmathes_ (cabbage rolls), and _stifatho_ (veal stew with onions). He nods. "I really must know how to cook these. I want to surprise my friends when we return to Japan after the Pre-Finals here and the Finals in Finland."

"Eh?"

"Mom, you're only looking at the youngest Bey Blading Champion of the World," Michiko told her mother, as she set some _baklava_ and _rizoghalo_ (rice pudding) on the table. "I watched their Finals in Russia, wow, they were really AWESOME!"

"You mean you've returned to the White Tiger Clan?" Mrs. Rinori asked.

"Mmm, sort of...I mean...officially, I'm a White Tiger, but I'm affiliated with the BBA Team right now," Lei explained.

"The BBA Team?"

"Yeah, Mom, you know? Chairman Daitenji...?"

"Oh, right!" Mrs. Rinori nodded. "He was the one who brought you to us during your Grecian tour 2 years back. How is he doing?"

"Very good, Aunt Haruko," Lei replied, taking a gulp of his Vanilla Coke. "I wouldn't be too surprised if he visits here, too." 

Lei offered to clear the table after he ate, but Mrs. Rinori shook her head. "You're a very important guest here, Lei. Now, run along with Michiko. I understand that you 2 have a lot of catching up to do."

The 2 of them went to the Kapnikarea Square, with its church built in the 11th century, having the same name as the square it was situated in. Michiko nodded over to several kids playing Bey Blades to one part of the square. "Ever since you guys won in the Russian Finals, almost every kid here now wants to Bey Blade. They want to become as strong and as popular as you when they grow up."

"I wouldn't be too surprised. Judging from the dedication and hard work these youngsters are showing in Bey Blading, you might have as well a new champion budding in your midst someday," Lei mused.

"Remember? We used to Bey here a lot 2 years ago," Michiko said, looking over at Lei. "You taught me everything about Bey Blading, and I still remember all those things you said to me then. I'm still Bey Blading, and...HEY! I want to show you something!"

"?" Lei blinked. "What is it..."

"LOOK!" Michiko got her Bey Blade from her shorts pocket then held it out for Lei to see. It was a black and white Bey Blade with a _shuriken_ blade type attack ring. And in the central bit was...

"WOW! You've already acquired a -Holy Beast-?!" Lei was impressed. "That was pretty quick!"

"Heh, I had a pretty marvelous teacher," Michiko said with a grin. "What do you think?"

It was a blue, purple, and white wolf with angel wings folded neatly at its back, its fangs bared. Lei held the Bey in his hand, then nodded, his eyes wide. "He's a pretty powerful -Holy Beast-...I could feel that. When did you get him?"

"Sometime after you left," Michiko said proudly. "I really went through all the things you taught me by heart, and during the BBA registration tourney, I got him! I've named him Kinaron."

"So you're part of the BBA family now, too?" Lei asked.

"Mmm-hmm! I'm planning to join the majors sometime after the Pre-Finals...it's for the World Championship next year." Michiko was quiet for a while, then she looked over at Lei. "Hey! Why don't we Bey Blade?! I mean, you know! For old times' sake?!"

"You're on." Lei grinned. "I won't be too easy on you!"

"Nor me on you!" Michiko nodded, smiling, her eyes closed happily. "Come on, let's BEY!"

"Is this all?"

"Yes, sir."

"That is good." There was a silhouette of a man holding a Cuban cigar in one hand. "And what of the Abbey?"

"They have come together as planned."

"Good, good." The man gestured with his Cuban cigar. "You may take leave of me, Ana."

"Yes." 

There was a hiss.

"Well. What did he say?"

"All is falling into place."

"Is it alright to leave Saint Dranzer in the hands of that moron?"

"..." The young girl closed her eyes. "I trust Yuri would do his duties well."

"..." There was a snort. "As you say. But Ana...if you should FAIL...then you must face the consequences."

"..."

"Let's go." There was a scuffle of leather boots on the floor, then another hiss.

"..." Ana Mund Freid's soulful red brown eyes were for a while, expressionless. She had short dark purple hair, the front part of it reaching to her collar bone (light purple with cream colored streaks), the short part of it just reaching her chin, cut in the manner of Rei Ayanami's hair. She had on a sleeveless dark blue blouse tied diagonally up by brass clasps, and a short red denim skirt held in place with 3 belts: 2 clasped diagonally leftward, 1 belt diagonally rightward. She wore thigh-high dark blue stockings held up with garters, and a pair of low cowboy maroon boots on her feet (think Squall Leonhart's boots). She had dark blue tube stockings in her arms, and red gloves (Videl style) in her small hands. Her sky blue scarf was tied at her left shoulder and was left to flutter freely down front and behind her. She had cream colored triangular face tattoos on her cheeks, and her blouse and skirt had strange gold metal straps that held it together (think Kai's costume in Bey Blade 2002). 

Her eyes then narrowed.

"I will not fail. I will see to it that the whole BBA Team would suffer. Just you wait and see. Saint Dranzer would show you all yet."

With that, Ana followed suit, with the slightest flutter of her scarf. 


	9. Wired

Wired

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: **SORRY FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO UPLOAD FOR A LOOONNNGGG TIME~~~!!! *****gasp gasp*** Ahem. Anyway, I would only be able to upload on a weekly basis, very busy these past few days, and I'm having a mental breakdown right now on whether I should be using Kobus or Zakus or Quebeleys for the Hanami ficcie, then thinking up of a zillion more ways in how to get about FY-BBA Style, BLADED!, The Bey Blade Story Game...@.@ GAAAAHHH~~~!!! ^-^;; Uh...where are we...OH! Okie-dokie. Right. So, I have introduced the mysterious Ana Mund Freid, and her connection to Kai would be somewhat enlightened up a bit in this chappie, with the advent of Saint Dranzer in Yuri's hands...Lady Celes would be making a special appearance; Professor would be meeting Cerridwen in the hotel hallway, much to the chagrin of Medain; and, yeah, Yuri and Cerridwen would meet again. Sparks fly...(?)anyway, read on and find out!

Yuri was quiet as he looked down at the White Dranzer he held in his hands. How long had it been since he saw it last?

Balkov had been telling him that one Bey Blade that could equal that of the Black Dranzer's power ever since he was a 5 year-old apprentice-novice back at the Monastery.

Only two of them were created: one to create, the other to destroy.

The Black Dranzer had been given to Kai, but...where was the other one?

It had been said when the White Dranzer appears, the Black Dranzer would come back and the 2 of them were fated to fight each other until both of them are destroyed.

Which was the -Creator-, which was the -Destroyer-?

Was this a challenge of some sort?

***_I wouldn't touch that cursed thing with a 10 foot pole even if my life depended on it,_*** Kai told him as they trudged out of the Monastery one last time, to catch that flight to Japan.

***_Even in the flight of Saint Dranzer...?_*** Yuri had asked softly.

***_Don't even mention that name ever again, Ivanov._*** Kai looked away. _***Let us hurry, the taxi driver's ready to hurl a Molotov cocktail towards us._***

He never did hear anything about the White Dranzer ever again.

But...

What would Kai do when he sees the White Dranzer again? 

Kai had been terribly frightened when he saw the White Dranzer that time he went missing in the woods when he tried to escape. He was just absolutely terrified. Yuri could remember that day very well...it was only a few weeks after Kai's grandfather had him deposited like some unwanted stray animal in the Monastery.

There had been a general uproar when Kai managed to escape, and he was barely 4 years old then.

Yuri knew right away that Kai was special; why would Balkov be so extremely agitated when the tiny boy was lost in the woods? 

And Kai returned terrified of the White Dranzer, and became more sullen as he grew older, up to the point that Kai himself was beginning to curse his very existence.

Why was it?

What secrets did the White Dranzer hold that made Kai so cold and hateful?

That was the last flight of Saint Dranzer, and now it flies again.

What would Kai think about it now...?

Lady Celes was quiet as she made her way down the quiet hallways of the Abbey that crisp afternoon. The quietude was disturbed only by the sounds of the girls up and about going to their next classes, chatting softly as proper decorum would allow, and the sounds of the birds singing sweetly in the many trees that surrounded St. Ingrid Abbey.

It was a great place to be in. The St. Ingrid Abbey and its original structures were erected during the Middle Ages, and was home to many noblemen's daughters during their times of strict convent schooling when it was considered proper for a lady to be familiar with everything that was required of her as a woman and as a noble. Everything here was made of pure white stone and marble, generous gifts of noblemen who were very satisfied with their convent schooling to prepare their daughters for marriage and the management of a household and the manors and the entire estates whenever their lords were away. St. Ingrid Abbey was one of the fortunate few who escaped the Black Death that ravaged the English countryside in the late 14th century (escaped with a few hundred casualties, not much else), and under Queen Elizabeth the First's royal decree, the Abbey was declared under the jurisdiction of the Royal Crown, although their headmistresses were given free rein over everything; and since then, the Abbey grew and grew, and has become a very popular private boarding school in all of England among the old nobility in modern times. Every respectable daughter of an old royal family was expected to study in St. Ingrid Abbey, and that was it. 

The Abbey was also host to a secret that had been going on for centuries, ever since the dawn of knowledge, and that was its Bey Blade school. Considered one of the oldest Bey Blade institutions in the world, along with that of the Balkov Monastery, St. Ingrid Abbey is very different, because of its apprentices that consisted entirely of young girls aspiring to be one of its elite Bey Blade team, the Wing Blades. 

***_The Angels of Death in a Bey battlefield. They look like Angels, but in looks only._*** Lady Celes held out her hand to which a tiny bird alighted on it. ***_Angels with scythes._***

"Excuse me, Lady Celes? Someone wishes to talk to you," a young girl said in a soft whisper.

Lady Celes blinked. A tall man was there, wearing the distinguished royal blue uniform of the House of Elridge. 

"Yes. Come, let us make haste to the Portrait Hall." Lady Celes nodded. "I am most eager to hear of whatever tidings you may bring. Please, follow me."

Professor was thinking of where he would start looking for the rest of the BBA Team (Kai was unusually asleep) when a familiar red-haired young girl turned up the hallway towards him.

"C...Cerridwen..."

Cerridwen was glancing at the piece of paper she held in her hands, looking through the gold numbers posted on each of the doors down the hallway of the hotel wing their room happened to be in.

"C...CERRIDWEN~~~!!!" Professor ran over to where she was, all dignity and poise forgotten.

"Yes...?" Cerridwen asked, blinking.

"Cerridwen Aerin Ascot-Elridge, I'm so very, VERY pleased to meet you, you don't know how happy and thrilled I am to see YOU~~~" SD Professor was short of fainting. 

"Uh...yes. How do you do?" Cerridwen asked him politely.

"Very, VERY fine~~~!!!" Professor held out his _Young Inventors Journal_ magazine, his cheeks burning bright as that of the setting sun. "Hee hee, uh...WOW~~~!!! I'm your avid fan...and...hee hee...I've read ALL your dissertations, papers, essays...can I have your autograph?"

"Uh..." Cerridwen blinked. "If you say so..." She got her pen from her bag then looked kindly at Professor. "Where?"

"The cover please! THANK YOU~~~!!!" SD Professor said.

Cerridwen signed with her neat flowing, graceful script on the front cover.

"And I loved your inventions, as WELL~~~!!! They're really awesome. And I must say, I really, REALLY enjoyed reading about them! You're so TALENTED~~~" Professor was raving.

"Oh, that I'm not!" Cerridwen blushed delicately. "Um...thanks if you think, anyway."

SD Professor looked like he had already died and had gone to nirvana.

"Um. I am a little bit lost..." Cerridwen looked at her paper again. "Is this Wing A..."

"CERRIDWEN~~~!!! What on EARTH are you doing HERE?!"

Cerridwen blinked. Medain was looking at her as if she had gone absolutely nuts.

"Uh, hi Medain," Cerridwen said with a wave. "I was just asking this kind young man here if this is Wing A..."

"Wing A is at the OTHER side of the hotel," Medain answered. "It's a good thing I saw you here, to save you from those stupid morons~~~"

"What stupid morons?"

Medain and Cerridwen turned to look. Professor was somewhere off in nirvana, and he had become a pretty useless statue, holding his glossy magazine to his chest.

Yuri was standing there, his eyes narrowed.

"Oh...hi, Yuri." Medain smirked. "Don't tell me you're starting to stand up for them."

"Yuri..." Cerridwen blinked.

Yuri decided to ignore the blush that was creeping steadily and stealthily up his face. "They happen to be MY teammates now, Medain. You can't go on insulting them as often and as long as you want. You're treading on me too."

"WhatEVER." Medain left with a small wave of her hand. "See you in the elevator, Cerridwen. Make it short and brutally sweet."

They were soon standing alone in the hallway. Professor was still blissfully blank.

"Um..." Yuri began awkwardly.

"Yuri, I really can't believe you're HERE!" Cerridwen was very happy. "Are you with Ivan, Boris, Sherkai..?"

"Uh, NO. I'm...errh...BBA." Yuri had a sudden desire to give himself a strong kick to his ass. "Are you...sweet..."

"?" SD Cerridwen blinked, her expression puzzled, her eyes wide and innocent looking.

Make that a double kick to his ass. Yuri was very painfully aware that his face was as red as his hair. "I mean...fine...are you...close...???"

SD Cerridwen blinked again. "Are you OK, Yuri?"

"Errh..." Yuri had turned SD, looking like a winged tomato with eyes like tiny beads. "Yeah..."

Medain looked over the huge vase that was in the way a few feet away. "Ask her on a date not NOW, Yuri, we still have to do a mission briefing. Besides, you look like you seem to need a free spin in a food processor. OK?"

"Medain..." Cerridwen blinked at her teammate.

"Let's go, Cerridwen. Date LATER." Medain gave a jaunty little wave. "See you, Ivanov."

Medain was gone again. Cerridwen turned and smiled at Yuri, her eyes closed happily. "I'm glad to see you again, Yuri. I'll see you when I see you?"

Yuri couldn't answer so he just nodded; Cerridwen's smile has somehow turned his brain and his entire central nervous system into hopeless mush.

"OK." Cerridwen nodded, then went after Medain. "Bye, Yuri."

"...Cerridwen..."

"?" Cerridwen turned to look at him. "Yes?"

"I'm...happy to see you, too."

"OK." Cerridwen nodded again. "Tell him thanks, too! See you, Yuri!"

She leaves.

At that precise moment, Professor went out of his reverie.

"She's gone, Professor." Yuri blinked, trying to force himself to get composed. "Aren't you supposed to be going somewhere?"

"H-huh...oh YEAH!" Professor looks up at him frantically. "Have you seen Takao, Max, or Lei?"

Yuri shook his head.

"Oh NO I still have to do their BEYS~~~" SD Professor ran towards the elevator. "Tell Kai I'm looking for the others when he wakes up, OK, Yuri? THANKS~~"

"..." Yuri blinked, sighed, then looked down at White Dranzer he fished out of his pocket.

Yeah, it was definitely not his DAY.


	10. There And Back Again

There and Back Again

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: GOMEN for taking a LOOONG time to update, our PC just crashed again...^^;; but it's not of a VERY paralyzing sort, my brother's been tinkering on it more than what was necessary, and...the PC won't start. Luckily, it didn't crash the entire hard drive. Anyway, this is it, the moment you've ALL been waiting for, the Wing Blades are back together AGAIN~~~!!! And both Lady Celes and Chairman Daitenji have a rather nasty surprise to both teams...here come the Wing Blades' -Familiars-~~~!!! ^.^ Oh, and Kai was just absolutely SHOCKED at seeing the Saint Dranzer he went off like a rocket to meet its owner in person. R/R PLEASE~~~!!! 

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bey Blade but I own the OC's portrayed herein. So PLEASE don't sue ME~~~!!!

"CERRIDWEN~~~!!!" Kikka yells happily as Medain came in with Cerridwen a little while later. Her eyes turned very huge and wobbly. "I thought I was going to get stuck with Selenay and Shizue for the rest of the NIGHT~~~"

"What on EARTH are you talking about, Kikka? You don't LIKE being hugged?" Selenay grabbed Kikka like a stuffed toy, and the little girl instantly became SD at once. Selenay herself turned SD too. "You're so CUUUTTTEEEE~~~!!!"

"I don't mind being hugged, but turning me into your instant stuffed toy is another thing COMING~~~!!!" SD Kikka's eyes became even wobblier. "You always hug me so tight like your moth-eaten Paddington BEAR~~~"

"He's not moth-eaten and he happens to have a NAME," Selenay replied, holding her cheek closer to SD Kikka's own (much to Kikka's chagrin). "It's Elroy Murray Theodore Benjamin the THIRD."

Medain had a huge sweatdrop on her head as she looked at Selenay with her arms crossed over her chest. "Whatever happened to the First and the Second?"

"I don't think I want to KNOW." Shizue sighed, then shook her head while Selenay still continued hugging SD Kikka, who by now had her eyes widely circular. "It's the same thing EVERY SINGLE time we ALL get together. It's Kikka's fault she's so CUTE."

"..." Cerridwen just smiled benignly, her eyes closed happily as she surveyed the scene in front of her.

"Well, that's it," Medain says, frowning as she went inside the room. "We still have a mission briefing. Selenay, un-hug that Paddington bear."

"I-AM-NOT-A-PADDINGTON-BEAR~~~!!!" SD Kikka yells, waving her arms frantically above her head.

"Whatever." Medain waved her hand dismissively. "Gather round the Round Table, children, Merlin has a lot of stories to tell."

All of them went inside the wonderfully appointed room, filled with handsome antique furniture, numerous priceless paintings, crystal vases filled with fresh-cut flowers, and crystal chandeliers, and sat at the sitting room right beside the terrace.

"Please serve us tea," Medain told the uniformed maid as they all sat down around the low coffee table, "and be quick about it. I wouldn't say no to those jam tarts and those oatmeal cookies, too. Thanks."

"Some pure virgin mountain honey would be very lovely, thank you," Selenay added. "Lumps just wouldn't do."

"Some blueberry cheesecake and warm milk for my tea," Kikka said in a muffled voice from Selenay's tightly-wound arms about her.

"A tiny squeeze of ripe lemon, just the tiniest bit would do," Shizue said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Tea and vanilla and warm fresh milk," Cerridwen added last. "I'd also love some warm fresh blueberry, strawberry, and peach Danish, it would be very lovely. Thank you very much."

"Would that be all, my Ladies?"

"Yes. Thank you very much."

The maid curtsied and quietly went out of the sitting room with the slightest flutter of her starched apron.

"So. How are the recaps?" Medain asked as soon as the maid was safely out of earshot.

"I just finished them as soon as the Concorde was flying low over London," Cerridwen said as she got her sleek custom cream-colored Apple iiMac (only specimen of its kind in the world; the infamous Double i; BTW, I am just making this up too) and set it down on the coffee table. "I had to check and double check and TRIPLE check everything for the Pre-Finals Tournament; Lady Celes wants us ALWAYS to be on top of things, you know how much she values perfection." 

"TOO much," Medain said with a sigh. "I think she's just overreacting a little too much for this one."

"But we have to keep on our TOES, you know how they were like during the Qualifiers," Kikka said, her voice still muffled by Selenay's tight hug.

"Well...how were they like?" Selenay asked.

"A bunch of wimps, actually; only Yuri and some face-tattooed guy deserve to be even worthy of a sideways glance from me," Medain replied. "I still can't get it, why Yuri had to join their team. They're just that desperate to have a slot in the Zero Finals, perhaps?"

"Maybe," Shizue answered.

Cerridwen just started typing on her laptop. "I've calibrated and synchronized all your anpsychic ratio onto your Beys, with little tweaks here and there; I expect they're still in great shape?"

"I never leave home without first making sure my Bey's OK," Kikka answered almost immediately. "Or else Lady Celes would have my head."

"Ditto for me," Medain said. 

"And I," Shizue added.

"And of course, me." Selenay blinked. "And you?"

"Crescendo's in top shape, mind you," Cerridwen answered, typing staccato fast on her laptop. "OK, first recap stats: Soleides. And that would be..."

"You're KIDDING," Takao said in awe.

"Definitely NOT," Professor told him. "Why would I even joke about something like this?"

"If it's something about Bey Blades, Professor wouldn't tell a lie," Max said, blinking. "Especially something as AWESOME as this."

Lei looked at Professor. "Weren't there any professional Bey Blade all-girl teams before?"

"Not that I know of," Professor answered, typing furiously at his laptop. "It's still considered to be a 'guy sport', and there are few women out there who even Bey Blade for a hobby, and even fewer women who do it professionally. There's Mao, and there's Emily, then that girl from the Brazilian team we fought during our American leg..."

"There's my friend, Michiko," Lei replied, "she's planning to hit the majors sometime after the Pre-Finals."

"Michiko...a GIRL?!" Takao turned SD. "Hey, what does Mao THINK of IT?!"

Lei turned a faint tinge of pink. "Errh...I haven't really told her about Michiko yet..."

Professor was still typing away then nodded a few seconds later. "Alright, I've got it! The official website of the St. Ingrid Abbey..."

They all crowded right behind Professor to look. Soon, they were seeing all sorts of beautiful white stone buildings, lots of girls wearing unmistakable schoolgirl uniforms (consisting of a light gray short coat with long sleeves and pleated light gray skirt, a fluffy ribbon tied up in front; it looked remarkably like a Garden girl's school uniform from Final Fantasy VIII), lots of gardens, and a shot of the Abbey standing like a fairy castle in the middle of an emerald valley.

"St. Ingrid Abbey," Professor muttered. "Founded in 1145, by one of the sisters of a Crusader. She wishes to impart the 'knowledge of proper and enlightened womanhood' to the daughters of neighboring manorial estates. Given a royal decree by Queen Elizabeth the First, the Abbey since then has become recognized as the premiere boarding school for any respectable blue-blooded young woman in modern times. It teaches all the subjects that is quite equivalent to a junior high school curriculum in Japan, except that it has a few twists. Aside from those mandatory subjects, the St. Ingrid Abbey also teaches 'fine womanly arts' expected of a properly fine-bred young noblewoman of today."

Takao stuck out his tongue, revolted at the very thought. "Please, I just ATE."

"Reading classical literature, studying a classical instrument, painting, maintaining a 'proper manorial household', equestrian lessons, sing and dance, and a little bit of proper tea drinking at the side. You'd think the Abbey's churning out more stuck-up snobs than what one country could allow," Professor continued. "But we're not talking about a nation of airheads here. Aside from the old titles and connections, you must have a really good head on your shoulders in order to pass the Abbey's very stringent requirements."

Max nodded. "OK..."

"And here's the official website of the Wing Blades." Professor moved his laptop's touch and go mouse at the base of his laptop's keyboard (OO;; you get the idea...) to the **ENTER** bar situated underneath the Abbey's school seal (a small gold crown with 7 stars on top and 3 intertwined lilies at the bottom).

The school seal dissolved slowly via faded checkered style, then showed another seal (purest white seraphic wings about crossed blades at the center; 5 stars encircling the crossed blades in 5 cardinal points about it). Professor let out a small whistle. "Wow, just look at this...member of the European League of Blading Nations...a consistent recipient of the Platina Blade Award for the last 15 years...a member of the Wing Three...and get a load of THIS~~~!!! Undefeated ever since the dawn of the Bey Blade age."

"Now they're pulling our LEGS," Takao said, his hands crossed over his chest. "They can't be THAT impossibly good now, RIGHT?"

"Let's see the members' roster...ah, there it is..." Professor then shook his head violently. "WHAT~~~?! They can't POSSIBLY~~~"

"What?" Max asked.

SD Professor just started touching his laptop screen lovingly as though it had suddenly become a lovable furry cat. "OOOOOooooohhhh...CERRIDWEN~~~!!! I can't believe she's a Guild MASTER~~~"

"What's a Guild Master?" Lei asked.

"Legendary Bey techs," Yuri said as he suddenly appeared at the doorway with several boxes held in his arms. "Every Bey tech would literally KILL just to be bestowed with such an honor. Only 5 are known to exist in this world at the very moment, and 2 of them happen to be England's pride. They are, of course, Cerridwen Aerin Ascot-Elridge, and Arthur Lancaster (XD XD XD!)."

"O...K..." Takao replied, blinking, not thinking much of Bey techs and Guild Masters at the moment. "Uh...hey, what on EARTH are you..."

"Oh, THIS." Yuri tossed the still wrapped-up parcels on the antique sofa. "Chairman Daitenji wants me to tell you that there would be a formal opening dinner tonight, in which Chairman Daitenji and Lady Celes would be guests of honor. That means we get to wear tuxedos."

"Tuxedos..." Takao said faintly, his face going a weird shade of blue.

"Trust me, this hurts a lot less than what you think," Yuri told him.

"Yuri? Where's Kai?" Lei asked as Max grabbed Takao and had him frog marched right into their room with Professor.

"Taking care of some 'business.'" Yuri nodded. "Don't worry, he'll turn up for the dinner."

As the Wing Blades screamed their indignation at having to survive a dinner with the BBA Team (well, Medain and Shizue ARE, anyway; while Selenay's screaming because she'll meet Yuri again; and both Kikka and Cerridwen were the only ones quiet), Kai was running down the streets in the late Athenian afternoon, never having felt so frightened and furious at the same time in his entire life. 

He went to the Parthenon, his breath coming out of him in ragged gasps, searching anything that was out of the ordinary in the late afternoon sunlight. He frowned, his red brown eyes narrowed, and he stopped in front of one of the many ancient cracked pillars that stood there. 

"Thought you'd never come." 

Kai's eyes widen, then whipped around to face the speaker. Ana came from hiding behind one of the pillars he just passed, her red brown eyes narrowed and cold and calculating. He broke into cold sweat. 

"Y...you..." 

"Me." Ana had her hands behind her back, walking smartly like any cadet going through his paces would, then stopped a few feet away from him, the gentle breeze whipping her scarf behind and in front of her. She cocked her head to one side. "Aren't you glad to see me, Kai?" 

"..." Kai started backing off, his eyes taking on a crazed look of somebody who was frightened out of his wits. 

"..." Ana frowned. "You always were a NINNY. Listen, I hear you're part of a Bey Blade Team now, other than the Shell Killers. Isn't that right?" 

"..." Kai was just silent.

"Oh DEAR. Giving me the silent treatment again? It wasn't my fault you were SO slow back then. I just knew it you didn't have it within you." Ana closed her eyes, smiling as if a pleasant memory had just popped into her mind's eye that very instant. "Cowardly, simpering, all-out PATHETIC. The Balkov Monastery was SO right in having you dragged back inside the complex~~~"

"You don't know ANYTHING about ME~~~!!!" Kai shouted. He curled his hands into tight little fists. "You have no right saying THAT~~~"

"Really? I do not KNOW you?" Ana opened her eyes, and regarded Kai with a look of utmost surprise on her face. "How could you even say THAT to your older SISTER? Mind you, it was really hard dodging all those bullets~~~"

"Stop IT~~~!!!" Kai held his hands to his head, his red brown eyes very wide.

"~~~all out noisy and barking mad, they were, I TELL you, they could really kill people with those shotguns pummeling those horrid bullets down and through the SNOW~~~"

"STOP IT~~~!!!" Kai shouted, going down to his knees. He squeezed his eyes shut, and he shook his head violently. "I don't want to hear ANY of IT~~~"

"..." Ana smiled in a rather languid way. 

***_Nee-chan...NEE-CHAN~~~!!!_***

Little Kai was shown running down a snow-covered slope, as fast as his little legs could carry him, tears flying out of his frightened red brown eyes as he ran after the gray shape in front of him. Everything was in muted colors, as if this was some sort of strange dream. He was sobbing, and he was crying hysterically.

***_NEE-CHAAAN~~~!!!_***

He falls face first onto the snow. A deafening blast was heard, and tiny Kai looked to his left and saw~~~

***_They can't be too far off, search for THEM~~~!!!_***

Kai just shook his head violently, then stood up, running after his older sister in the wilderness. The soldier monks of the Monastery apparently didn't seem to care if they killed a wolf puppy that got in the way. His tears misted his vision, and he was very hysterical by now.

***_**NEE-CHHHAAAAAANNNNN~~~~!!!**_***

He stumbles, then falls again. He looks up, then squinted his eyes, as a blast of icy snow greeted him from the force of the furiously whirling blades of a black military helicopter.

His sister was standing right in front of it, the winds whipping her long gray coat behind her.

***_Nee-chan..._*** Kai stood up shakily, then went over to where his sister was. ***_Nee-chan, they're here~~~_***

A hand lashed out, and Kai falls back onto the snow, surprised. His sister was glaring at him, her red brown eyes taking on a black color in its corneas.

Kai was speechless. ***_Nee...nee-chan..._***

***_There they ARE~~~!!! Don't let them ESCAPE~~~!!!_*** 

His sister just took one look at them, then smiled in a rather frightening way. The next thing Kai knew, everything was glaring white.

***_ASTARTE~~~!!! ASTRAL FLASH~~~!!!_***

Kai shook his head, his tears pouring out in a spray.

***_**NEE-CCCHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN~~~~~~~~~!!!**_***

"Saint Dranzer flies again." Ana's eyes narrowed a little bit, but it was in a sort of appraising manner, as she gazed at Kai. "Won't Devil Dranzer take to stretch his wings out into infinity, then?"

Kai just looked up at her, his red brown eyes very confused (translation: very, very, very HANDSOME~~~!!! ^o^) and pained. 

"It's time that Saint Dranzer should be returned to me." Ana held out her hand. "For old times' sakes, eh, little brother?"

"?" Selenay looked out the window as if something big happened, and she just missed it. Cerridwen was just watching the tiny baby cream colored Ninetails snooze on her lap, then looked up to see Selenay looking out the window, a floating silver furball right beside her.

"Selenay?"

"Did you just...feel that...?" Selenay asked.

"Yes, I did." Cerridwen's eyes became thoughtful. "I wonder what it was..."

"I just hope it's nothing awful." Selenay sighed, her eyes becoming thoughtful, as well. The silver furball emitted a crystal clear musical note pitch in the silence that followed.

"Oooohhhh, I wasn't THINKING of Yuri, Griever, I was thinking of something ELSE." Selenay sighed again. "Geez. I do hope something good would come out of this night. I don't fancy myself as a dancing queen."

"More like a robotic and a pathetic excuse for a wiggling caterpillar, if you ask me." Medain appeared in the doorway, holding up 2 Kraft paper-covered packages by means of hangers. "Hey, your dresses just came in."

"Thanks, Medain," Cerridwen said, smiling at her with her eyes closed happily.

"~~~" Selenay had a small black cloud hovering above her head. "You really just HAD to rub it IN."

Medain raised her eyebrows. "Your dancing exploits aren't exactly hidden as your fiery adoration of the Red Hot Yuri Ivanov. And hey, his hair's also on fire, to boot." 

"~~~" SD Selenay just marched up to where Medain was and snatched her dress without another word. "Thanks for reminding ME, Medain. Excuse ME." With that, she marched off into the bathroom and slammed it shut behind her.

"..." Medain shrugged, sighed, and had her head down low. "French brats. I just do NOT understand them."


	11. Eyes On Me

Eyes On Me

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: GOMEN for ripping off the Final Fantasy VIII theme song, but...I CAN'T HELP IT~~~!!! I LOVE it~~~!!! The lyrics are just definitely so me for my koibito out there, who has a girlfriend, and yet...well, let the lyrics tell you all about it. ^^;; Anyway, this is the part where things start heating up...dinner dance of Wing Blades and of Bladebreakers...OO;; Wow, all of them wearing tuxedos! **HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE**...XD man, I think I could probably die now. Oh, Takao et al, I mean....OO;; Yuri's starting to feel...JEALOUS?! Well, how could Cerridwen help it, Lei looks EXACTLY like Arthur Lancaster, except that he has hazelnut eyes and has an Asato Tsuzuki hairstyle (no FANGS!). Need I say more on what the score is between Cerridwen and Arthur? ^.^ R/R please! 

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Bey Blade, its characters, and its Bey Blades (^^;;), I DO own the OC's portrayed herein. so NO SUING~~~!!!

"This is totally STUPID," Takao was saying as he struggled to keep his dark blue bangs in check by means of gel and a comb. "Why do we have to attend a PARTY?"

"It's opening night, and the organizers feel it's their duty to foster and promote international cooperation and understanding among Bladers from all over the world," Professor told him. "And we're not the only ones who have to go dressed up like this; other teams are also to show up. Those who qualified for the Pre-Finals, that is."

"Quit wriggling around, Takao, you'll mess up your tux," Max told him. "Now how could you possibly EVER sweep a girl off her feet if you go there looking like some discarded wash RAG?!"

"How many teams are going to compete, anyway?" Lei asked, looking up from neatly plaiting his hair into a braid down his back.

"Around 18 teams," Yuri answered, fixing his white bow tie. "Mostly from the North American, South American, and European circuits."

"Are we the only Asian team who got to qualify?" 

"Well, there's the Korean Team, and the Indian Team. From what I heard about them, they're extremely tough, so don't expect our way to the Finals as a cake walk."

There was a knock on the door, and Professor crossed their hotel room to open it. Chairman Daitenji was standing there, grinning widely. He was wearing a smart black tuxedo with tails, holding his walking stick with one hand, and a top hat on his head.

"Hey, children! How's your tuxedo suit-up doing?"

"Almost finished, Chairman Daitenji," Takao replied. His eyes widen. "Wow, Chairman Daitenji, you look AWESOME~~~!!!" 

"I really can't say no to your get-ups, as well, you all look very dashing," Chairman Daitenji says with a wink. "Just promise me you don't go sweeping girls off their feet more than you guys could actually handle."

"Don't worry, Chairman Daitenji, we've got Takao under check," Max says with a laugh.

"HEY~~~!!!"

Chairman Daitenji looked over at Kai, who was busy adjusting his cuffs by means of shiny silver cufflinks, standing by the full length mirror on the other side of the room. "Everything OK there, Kai?"

"..." Kai turned around then nodded. He had removed his face tattoos with respect to the occasion.

"Good." Chairman Daitenji nodded. "I'll see you guys downstairs by the limousine. Don't be late!"

"Yes!" Takao whistled as soon as Chairman Daitenji went out of the room. "WOW! A LIMOUSINE~~~!!! We're going to that place riding on a LIMOUSINE~~~!!!" he yells, his eyes sparkly.

"Keep your voice down, Kinogu, you wouldn't want to wake up the DEAD," Yuri told him.

"OK everyone?" Professor nodded. "Come on, the party awaits!"

The chandeliers were sparkling, and expensive Cristal poured freely amidst laughter and hushed talk among the well-heeled guests, but Medain was less than thrilled having to endure 3 or so hours of it wearing high heels and a tight, flowing dress.

"Relax, Medain," Selenay told her with an angelic smile on her face. "You just look ABSOLUTELY darling."

"Darling, my FOOT! How do YOU guys manage to endure wearing this kind of crap every single elegant dinner party you go TO?!" SD Medain asked her, a gargantuan twitch on top of her head. 

"We're just gifted individuals," Selenay said with a laugh. "Besides, you're holding up that dress very well."

Medain frowned. She was wearing an icy blue dress that was made of a flowing gauzy material, a strap going over her left shoulder, leaving her right one bare. The skirt fell down to her knees, sheathing her hips tightly, then flowing freely about her legs like mist a few inches above her knees. She wore a pair of white pencil-thin heeled open toed sandals on her feet, the straps decorated with tiny glittering ice blue stones upon it. Her orange eyes were faintly tinted with frosted blue and white eyeshadow, and her lips were tinged a faint pink. Her dark blue hair was tied back by means of a clasp decorated in the same manner as her sandals. She had ice blue studs in her ears, and a silver bracelet on her right wrist. 

"Don't frown, you're supposed to be lady-like," Selenay told her. 

"How can we be lady-like being trussed up like spring ROLLS?!" Shizue fumed. She was wearing a halter-type oyster colored dress with many sparkling Swarovski crystals liberally spread about on top like a bib. Her glorious jet black hair was dramatically swept upwards, pinned in place by many Swarovski crystal studded clasps and pins, looking as if a fine net of stars was holding up her coiffure. She had a pair of pencil-thin heeled sandals done in the manner of Sailorvenus' shoes on her feet, and a shawl about her shoulders. She had diamonds in her ears, and a pair of diamond bracelets on her right wrist. 

"You look A-OK to me!" SD Kikka said happily. She was wearing a frosted yellow sleeveless dress done in many layers of silk on her skirt reaching to her knees, a ribbon tied at the small of her back. The dress was delicately embroidered in many intricate patterns down the sides of her still flat bust (^^;; she's only 12, for crying out loud) to her skirt; the ribbon's end tails (^^;;) embroidered, as well. She wore flats on her feet, embroidered the same way as her dress. Her short honey brown hair was held in place by 2 clips on one side of her head, looking so especially fine and wispy today by means of spray-on moisturizer. She had drop pearl earrings in her ears, her pearl pendant hanging on a fine gold chain about her neck, and a sweet charm bracelet with hearts and keys dangling from it on her right wrist. 

SD Kikka patted SD Shizue on her shoulder, a happy grin on her face. "Don't worry about a thing, Shizue, just smile and act LADY-LIKE. They'll see how beautiful the Ogre Sister of Icy Madness IS when you SMILE!" 

"Oh SHUT UP~~~!!!" 

Selenay just smiled, her eyes closed happily, her hands clasped behind her back. She was wearing a short white dress with spaghetti straps, its skirt reaching only to a few inches above the knees embroidered at its sides, where it had Valenciennes lace inserts. Her deep brown hair was unbound, held in place by a tiny beautiful lily clasp on one side of her head, made of silver and diamonds, a fine silver chain serving as its main clasp. A beautiful pendant of the same make hung from a fine silver chain about her neck (like Arwen's), and a diamond bracelet and lily bracelet glinted on her right wrist. She had on a pair of white sandals on her feet. 

"Hey, where's Cerridwen?" Medain suddenly asked. "The party's about to start..."

"No idea. I guess she took to the comfort of the pillars again, she's so horribly shy about this kind of thing," Shizue answered, still twitching as SD Kikka patted her on the shoulder again and again. 

"But it didn't stop her from reeling in Arthur Lancaster," Selenay said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And Yuri!" SD Kikka said happily.

SD Selenay had a small black cloud hovering above her head. "Please don't remind ME."

"Why do some girls have all the LUCK, eh, Selenay?" Medain blinked. "Hey, wait a minute...here come those wussies now. Whoo, don't they just look dapper in their waiter tuxedos?"

Shizue, Selenay, and Kikka all turned to look. Sure enough, the BBA Team just entered the elegant pavilion the organizing committee had rented for the occasion, pulling uncomfortably at their collars and their eyes darting nervously around the room, except for Kai and Yuri.

"Oh. My. GOD." Selenay looked as if she was about to faint. "Yuri's so HEAVENLY..."

"By golly, they actually LOOK human," Medain said, blinking.

"!!!" Shizue had her hands to her mouth. "Check that guy OUT. If it weren't for the hairstyle and the color of his eyes~~~" 

"Why didn't I SEE it BEFORE?!" Kikka was short of ecstatic. "I'll go fetch Cerridwen right AWAY~~~!!!"

She zoomed off without another word. Selenay looked like she had already died and gone straight to heaven.

She sighed.

"Yuu-riiii..."

Takao was glancing nervously around the room, seeing the place entirely filled with people who looked like they were the members of the world's cream of atrociously high society.

"This is creepy," Max muttered. "Are you sure we're in the right PLACE?"

"Must be, I don't see any dark-suited men swooping around us to throw us all outside," Lei answered, his amber yellow eyes wide and blinking.

"Enjoying yourselves, children?" Chairman Daitenji grinned. "Heh heh, this is the 1st time that all leaders of all Bey Blade associations around the world got together for such a very important event. We haven't seen each other much for the last 15 years..."

"Ah! Daitenji! Jolly good to see YOU!"

They all turned to look. A roly poly man with flaxen hair was coming up to meet them, his arms wide open for a hug. He hugged the BBA Chairman tight, whereas Chairman Daitenji returned the hug.

"Same here! My, you look absolutely wonderful, Willowberry. I guess the country's doing you so much good, eh?"

"Right in one, my good old chap, right in one!"

"Oh! Before I forget..." Chairman Daitenji smiled and gestured to the BBA Team. "Willowberry, I would like you to meet Japan's pride, the BBA Team. They're really talented kids, and I'm very proud of them. Children, this person here is Mr. Richard Willowberry, Chairman of the European Bey Blade Union. He's one of the organizers of this tourney."

"Hello, hello, hello!" Mr. Richard Willowberry smiled at them like a very huge and friendly teddy bear. "My, Gogoro isn't kidding, you kids look pretty tough."

"Errh...we're not that good yet, Mr. Willowberry, but we're definitely doing our best to get that way," Professor said, smiling at him uncertainly.

"HAHAHAHAHA! My, and so humble, to boot! Yes, you would definitely go places with that kind of attitude." Mr. Willowberry nodded. "I'm really glad to meet you; I haven't heard from the Asian delegation for quite a long time already."

"Oh. Has the Abbey delegation arrived already?" Chairman Daitenji asked after a few seconds' silence.

"They're here," Mr. Willowberry said with a sigh. "I was beginning to think they were all planning to vanish into thin air, without saying anything. It's good that they FINALLY agreed to participate in the tournament. Lady Celes had most graciously heeded our invitation."

"Did she, really? That is good news, indeed." Chairman Daitenji nodded, then looked over at his young charges. "Shall we meet up with them?"

"..." Cerridwen was engrossed in sending e-mail to her childhood friend Johnny MacGregor (8D) via her frosted violet Nokia Athaelion i220 (fully customized; only one of its kind in the world; BTW I'm only making this UP), standing by one of the many Doric pillars decorating the balcony, when Kikka came running into view, zooming like a little Tasmanian Devil on turbo boosters.

"CERRIDWEN~~~!!!" SD Kikka stopped right in front of Cerridwen, leaning over with her hands on her knees, her eyes squeezed shut, as she gasped and panted for breath. "Cerridwen~~~"

"What happened, Kikka?" Cerridwen looked at her, her mint green eyes filled with concern.

"**ARTHUR'S HERE~~~!!!**"

"Wh-WHAT?! But...how can he POSSIBLY...he's~~~" Cerridwen began.

"Ooooohhhh, I haven't time to EXPLAIN~~~!!!" SD Kikka grabbed her hand and started dragging her back inside the pavilion. "Come ON~~~!!!"

They had just gotten to where Medain, Shizue, and Selenay were when Chairman Daitenji, Mr. Willowberry, and the BBA Team arrived.

"..and here are the LOVELY ladies of St. Ingrid Abbey." Mr. Willowberry grinned. "Hello, dear Ladies, how are you on this VERY wonderful evening?"

Lei was just blinking, when Mr. Willowberry started the formal introductions, and it was THEN when the dream came to him, unbidden, so sudden that he thought he was hallucinating.

But she was there.

Cerridwen was standing right next to Selenay, who was still hyperventilating over Yuri, who shrugged and gave her one of his very rare smiles. She was wearing a beautiful wine colored dress that looked as if it was just draped about her body, the sleeves only consisting of the same material that were bunched up on her shoulders and made to flow freely about her slim arms, held in place with invisible pins hidden somewhere in the bunches of fabric. The very dress was draped in such a way that it looked like an ancient Greek woman's costume, its skirt reaching down to her knees, and flowed freely as if it had water woven into the very material itself. Her glorious cream and silver streaked hair was swept upward and held in place by cleverly intertwined tiny "leaves" made of emeralds and a very fine net of pearls and diamonds (her hairdo looking like Jewel's in her _Foolish Games _MTV), and some of her glorious fiery hair falling before her ears in soft curls that framed an otherwise smooth face free of blemishes, and as Lei noted, her complexion reminded him too much of creamy, fresh milk with just a faintest tinge of pink. She had a pair of open toed sandals on her feet, with low heels; and had a thin shawl about her shoulders. Drop earrings, made of pearls, emeralds, and diamonds fashioned into raindrops and leaves, winked in her ears too delicate to be even possible; and she had a tiny Fabergé egg charm bracelet and a diamond and emerald "leaf" bracelet on her left wrist. An teardrop shaped pendant with a curious stained glass holding clasp (^^;;) hung from a fine gold chain about her neck, and it glinted in the light of the chandeliers above them.

Cerridwen blinked, then her gaze rested on him, and Lei did at the same time, and their eyes met. 

"...and yes, until Lady Celes had finally took the position of the Abbey's headmistress...things were never the same again, the Abbey now enjoys a renewed prominence in England's secondary school education...and the rest, as they say, was HISTORY." Mr. Willowberry nodded. "Any more questions?"

"..." SD Kikka had a small smile on her face.

"I guess it could start with HIM asking HER name," she whispered. "Deja vu, eh?"

Yuri bit his lip.

Yes, it was Cerridwen Aerin Ascot-Elridge and Arthur Lancaster all over again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*

Doric - an ancient Greek architectural style, characterized by simplicity of form


	12. In the Arms of an Angel

In the Arms of an Angel

AUTHOR'S NOTES: o.O;; Is this becoming a rip-off of song titles?! Anyway, Lei + Cerridwen = SPARKS FLY~~~!!! And Yuri isn't too happy about it. Uh-oh, the green-eyed monster's about to rear its ugly head. I guess Lei should take care NOT to hold Cerridwen TOO close to him...^^;; R/R PLEASE~~~!!!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bey Blade and its Bey Blades...I own the OC's portrayed herein. So no SUING people~~~!!!

Cerridwen felt as if time had suddenly stopped.

How long had it been?

God, even if 6 months had already passed, she still felt like crying every time she thought of him.

And he was there right in front of HER.

What...did Crescendo call him back to her from beyond this mortal plane?

She was just 12 years old then, and he was 15. She had just accompanied one of her cousins from her father's side to this ball, of which she didn't want to be in, anyway. But the reason why she was here was because she heard Arthur Lancaster would be there, and she had loved him ever since she was a little girl. But she was too shy then, and he was always surrounded by his friends, and he had other pretty girls to be preoccupied about. He was so close yet so far away, and Cerridwen didn't even think that he would remember her, not after that disastrous Cosplay of which she was a part and he came with his best friend and a girl she recognized as one of the society girls she's heard and read so much about in the high society pages of the newspapers.

All she did was gag and look like a fish out of water, to which he just blinked politely and his companions short of rolling around on the floor while laughing very hysterically.

She's been scared of guys ever since.

But...

He was right there, holding out a tiny glass of orange sherbet to her, smiling kindly and very warmly at that, his slanted hazelnut eyes looking at HER not right through her.

***_Hello. I do believe we're not yet formally introduced?_***

***_..._*** Cerridwen could only gape at him, then remembered who she was talking to, and her cheeks flamed scarlet. She held the tiny glass of sherbet tightly, her knuckles turning white. ***-_Oh please God don't make ME gag again...-_*** she thought.

Arthur Lancaster laughed lightly. He nodded. ***_Well then. I'm Arthur Lancaster, aka Squall Leonhart of the last Anicon Cosplay. And...I daresay you made quite a cute-looking Sakura Kinomoto. Except you have red hair, and those were one heck of o-dango buns I've ever seen in my entire life. Did you conceptualize your costume?_***

***_Y-yes..._*** 

***_That was genuine Tomoyo Daidouji, if I do say so myself. Are you sure you're just human?_***

***_..._*** Cerridwen blushed. ***_Hee. I guess my muses were working really hard the whole week. Thanks._***

***_Nothing to it._*** Arthur nodded. ***_And you're..._***

***_Cerridwen Aerin Elisabeth Ascot-Elridge_,*** Cerridwen blurted out almost immediately. Her cheeks flamed scarlet again. ***_I..._***

***_Yes, the candidate from the St. Ingrid Abbey? I remember you._*** Arthur nodded. ***_You were so small then when I left Ellincourt._***

***_...!_*** Cerridwen blinked. ***_You...remember me..._***

***_Who wouldn't? You were always so quiet, while the rest of your cousins were short of uprooting Mother's gigantic front lawn in the old manor where she grew up. And how could I forget you, you always hung out with little Johnny. The 2 of you were VERY inseparable. Be it Bey Blading, or Johnny plain protecting you from those kids who bully you all the time in Sunday school. Hey, he almost named his Bey Blade Cerri, right? Good thing he stuck with Salamander._***

Cerridwen was now so sure she was as red as an apple. ***_You...still..._***

***_I think he still calls it Cerri privately. I'm very sure Salamander wouldn't like it one bit, and wouldn't call Salamander Cerri right in front of your face._***

***_..._***

***_I'm really glad to see you again, Cerridwen. It's been 8 long years since we saw each other last._*** He smiled, his eyes closed happily. ***_Would you care to dance with me...?_*** 

Arthur died of bone cancer the next year after. Cerridwen couldn't believe it. He was so strong, he was so young...

And she wasn't able to say all the things she wanted him to know before he went away. She didn't know he was living with the disease for 2 whole years already, and...as his older sister told her during the funeral, he was always telling her that he was missing his Cerri, his little Cerri, and was really pained that his time was so short.

He died on her birthday.

And...

Here he was, standing right in front of her. It was very unbelievable. He couldn't have...did he even...

"...and this here is Cerridwen Aerin Elisabeth Ascot-Elridge, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Ellincourt, Lady Ascot-Elridge in blueblood circles. One of the only 5 Guild Masters known in existence, and she's a lady, and she's only 13." Mr. Willowberry was nodding his head. "Probably the youngest, to boot. One of the youngest. The other one was Arthur Sigismund Lawrance Huntington-Lancaster, 17 years of age. It was such a pity...he was so young."

"..." Selenay glanced at her, biting her lip. Cerridwen's eyes became a trifle sad.

"And may I present the BBA Team. Their team captain is Takao Kinogu." Chairman Daitenji gestured to Takao, who was short of having his eyeballs pop out and roll around on the floor as he stared at Cerridwen. "And, I am very pleased and honored to announce, the world's youngest Bey Blade champion." 

"..."

"Takao?"

"OH! Errh...heh heh heh...pleased to meet you," Takao said, a goofy expression on his face. Medain had such a look of complete disdain on her face Kikka fought a mad desire to laugh like a madman.

"This is Max Mizuhara, the son of the PBB Director, Dr. Judy Mizuhara, from America," Chairman Daitenji continued, "and this is Kai Hiwatari, grandson of Souichiro (^^;; is this his NAME?!) Hiwatari, of Hiwatari Industries."

"Hi! I'm 13 and I'm SOO glad to meet you ALL," Max greeted them all heartily with a jaunty wave of his hand. Kai was just quiet.

Shizue sweatdropped.

"This is Professor, he serves as the team's Bey tech, and Yuri Ivanov, formerly of Team Russia, first place at the Bey Blade Finals held in Russia," Chairman Daitenji went on. "Yuri's here of his own free will. He's not affiliated with the Balkov Monastery anymore, after that 'incident'."

Selenay's eyes turned to little hearts and the air about her became very sparkly. 

"Hello," Professor said, very happy to see his idol up close and personal at last. Yuri was just looking at Cerridwen, his curious blue eyes looking a trifle worried. At this expression Selenay instantly sprouted spirit orbs about her head.

"And last but certainly not the least, this is Lei Kon. He's the leader of the White Tiger Clan, but he has graciously accepted his position as one of the BBA Team's members once again. Surely you have heard of the White Tiger Team?"

"Those people who looked like cats?" SD Kikka asked, blinking. 

SD Lei had a huge boulder fall on top of him that had suddenly been thrown at him from nowhere and squashed him flat. SD Takao, SD Max, SD Kai, SD Professor, and SD Yuri had huge sweatdrops on top of their heads.

"Yes, the people who looked like cats," Chairman Daitenji answered her with a huge sweatdrop on top of his head as well. "They're a really tough team, having been invited to the Finals as the BBA Team here."

"Really?!" SD Kikka's eyes became huge and very sparkly. "I LOVE CATS~~~!!! WOW~~~!!!"

"..." SD chibi neko Lei had a hopeless expression on his face. "Errh...right. Hi."

"Well then, young ladies and gentlemen, now that you have all known each other's names...we leave you to get to know each other better, after the dinner. Let's celebrate it with a dance. Countess Summer with Takao, Lady Tsukigata with Max, Marquise Reinholt with Professor~~~"

"Oh no, thanks, I'm not much of a dancing guy," Professor said, his face beet red.

"Oh, alright. Marquise Reinholt with Yuri, Lady Herrault with Kai, and Lady Ascot-Elridge with Lei. Would that be fine? Good." Mr. Willowberry nodded and went off. "Have a good time children."

"WHA~~~?! WAIT~~~" Medain began.

"Too bad I'm stuck with a loudmouth," Takao mumbled. "Why couldn't I dance with somebody ELSE?!"

SD Medain had many gargantuan twitches on top of her head. "And I don't want to dance with you EITHER~~~!!! I don't want to dance with a punched up little brat like YOU~~~!!!" 

"I am NOT a punched-up BRAT~~~!!!" SD Takao fumed, gargantuan twitches sprouting on top of his head, as well.

"Punched-up little PIPSQUEAK~~~!!!"

"Why YOU~~~"

"..." SD Shizue had a huge pulsing vein on top of her head. "Boy oh BOY, this is going to be ONE LONG night."

It was the longest dinner of Selenay's life. She was dressed to kill, she saw Yuri, but now she was going to be stuck with some quiet guy who looked like he'd rather talk to his own shadow than dance with her. And Kai Hiwatari did not look more of a dancing machine than she WAS. 

Why does EVERYTHING horrid have to happen to HER?! Why could Kikka have hogged the best-looking guy available in that particular dinner TONIGHT, without really TRYING?!

Yes, Medain was right; some girls have ALL the luck in the world.

She was stabbing her peas so murderously Kikka was blinking as she watched her go on about her "killing spree". "Hey, aren't you going to be indicted for first degree murder with WHAT you're DOING?"

"Don't START Kikka," Selenay fumed. 

"Yes, don't start," Medain added. She was cutting up her steak as viciously as a a butcher-surgeon could have done. "Why we have to put up with this stupid dinner is way beyond my comprehension. I've enough staredowns to last a hundred lifetimes." 

"Don't forget catcalls and lewd inuendos," Shizue said, munching on some buttered young corn as she sliced up her own steak with a style very reminiscent of that certain dreaded _hitokiri_. "Those guys over at the Presidential Table have been eyeing at and whispering about ALL of us like we're pieces of scantily-clad meat on display. Have any idea what team those maniacs are with?"

"Come to think of it, this is the first time I've seen THEM," Kikka remarked.

"Cerridwen, how does it feel to have that Arthur clone...well...you ARE going to be dance partners," Medain asked, looking up from her steak. Selenay, Shizue, and Kikka all turned to look at her as well. 

"..." Cerridwen sighed. "I don't know...it's really ODD, isn't it? It's like...he's alive again..."

"Yep, you said it right," Kikka remarked. "But maybe it's just because he looks so much like HIM."

"If you just clip those horrid fangs and those catty amber yellow-gold eyes, and long hair...make those eyes hazelnut...yes, that's DEFINITELY Arthur," Selenay told her. "But...then again, those fangs are kind of CUTE, and that long jet-black hair's SO manly..."

"I THOUGHT Yuri's the only way to go for YOU," Shizue asked as she blinked at Selenay.

"Well, he has EYES only for CERRIDWEN~~~!!!" SD Selenay started stabbing her peas even more murderously than the last. "Why do all gorgeous guys have to FALL for her and not ME?!"

"Maybe start acting like...human?" Kikka said helpfully.

SD Selenay glared at SD Kikka. "What do you MEAN by that...are YOU saying that I'm not HUMAN?!"

Medain stifled a laugh. "Children DO see things more than what we COULD, Selenay. Take a leaf off from her BOOK, will you?"

"Oh shut up, MEDAIN~~~!!!"

The dance was a disaster waiting to happen.

Max and Shizue were OK, except that Max did all the talking and Shizue was just quiet. Takao and Medain glided over the dance floor like a pair of cardboard cutouts, as they kept glaring at each other, with matching gargantuan twitches on their heads. Kai and Selenay kept gracefully weaving in and out of the dancing couples, and Selenay was very HORRIFIED to learn that Kai Hiwatari could dance REALLY well, and she kept looking over at Yuri. And Yuri and Kikka were quite OK, except Yuri kept darting his glances over to the end of the dance floor where Lei and Cerridwen were dancing.

Oh, he was annoyed, alright. Yuri could see how the 2 of them looked so right even from afar.

Kikka was not that dense as not to sense it.

"Eh, you really like her, don't you, Yuri?"

Yuri blinked, then looked down at Kikka who was smiling at him brightly. "What do you mean?"

"Hee, I don't need to become an empath to know what you feel for HER." Kikka glanced over at Lei, who, like Kai, was a magnificent dancer as well. "I know how very difficult this is for her, seeing Lei, who looks so much like Arthur. It's hard competing with a 'ghost'." 

Yuri stared at her. "For a 12 year-old, you sure do KNOW a lot of THINGS." 

"Oh, yeah! Mama's been telling me for as long as I could remember that I was born old. That I REALLY think like my grandfather at this age," Kikka told him, her eyes closed happily. "And Papa's telling me that we may be kindred souls born like a gazillion years apart." 

"..." Yuri bit his lip as he gently turned Kikka around in order to avoid a rather exuberantly dancing middle-aged couple. "I have a feeling your parents are RIGHT."

"Look, if you're feeling really panicky over her, then why don't you just tell her what you feel and get on with it? That way, we'll not have ugly confrontations or arguments in between..."

"Confrontations?"

"Really Yuri. What side of the planet you've cooped yourself up in for THAT long? Well, there's the Monastery, but certainly...you should've been completely aware of facts like THAT about now, right?"

"The Monastery isn't exactly coed, Kikka. We're an all-boys club, as you Abbey girls are all-girls. It's but natural that we feel ridiculous about getting brushes with the 'unknown'. We practice Bey Blade all the time, and Balkov just kept us cooped up in that frigging Monastery for as long as we all could remember. The only guy who has successfully escaped the Monastery, so to speak, is Kai Hiwatari," Yuri told her.

"Kai...Hiwatari? That GUY Selenay's dancing WITH?!" SD Kikka asked, her eyes going widely circular.

"Bet you didn't know about that. As soon as he defected from the Balkov Monastery, Balkov made sure that he deleted every file about him, but still, he sort of hoped he'd come back. That was like a good 7 years ago."

"How old is Kai, anyway?"

"He's just my age."

"And you're..."

"15."

"Really? I thought you were around 17 or somebody older. You sure act that way." Kikka looked over at Lei. "He's the leader of the White Tiger Clan, right?"

"Yes, he is."

"Is he 15, too?" 

"I think so...yeah." 

"He's quite young to become a leader of any clan," Kikka remarked. "Does he have any fiancee or anything?" 

"I don't know," Yuri answered with a shrug. "But I think he and Mao are a couple." 

"Who's Mao?" 

"Uh...his childhood sweetheart, as what Takao's been telling me." 

"How does she look like?" 

"Carnation pink hair, same amber gold eyes and fangs." 

"You can't possibly mean...that girl Medain's so ticked up ABOUT?!" 

"I think so. Wait a minute, you mean to say..." 

"Medain told me she destroyed a pink Bey Blade, and she hates the pink girl who owned it. I guess they're one and the same. But...PINK...?!" 

"...uh..." 

"I don't mind pink but all I SEE is pink, and she's not that too SHY about it, going out in all PINK~~~!!!" SD Kikka was shaking her head violently from side to side. "I thought I got to see the end of the pink syndrome in Chibiusa, then she comes right ALONG~~~" 

"..." Yuri turned SD. "I take it that you DON'T like pink." 

"I don't mind PINK, but all PINK, you have got another thing COMING~~~!!!" SD Kikka was becoming very emotional about it indeed. "PINK~~~!!!" 

A huge sweatdrop appeared over SD Yuri's head. 

"Cerridwen may look eternally Christmas-y, but at least she's not flaunting IT!" SD Kikka's left hand was twitching spasmodically as she held it up, letting go of Yuri's shoulder for a moment. "PINK~~~!!!" 

"..." The huge sweatdrop became a million smaller ones.

"Now where is she?"

"She's left behind at Japan, but I guess she'd be coming over to give moral support to her boyfriend sometime soon, when the tournament starts."

"I sure hope she won't come. My opponent's going to be REAL sorry." Kikka still looked over at where Lei and Cerridwen were dancing. "If it weren't for the color of the eyes...I say Arthur Lancaster's back dancing again. You have to work double time if you want her to become your girlfriend, Yuri." 

Yuri blushed scarlet. "WHAT girlfriend?!"

"Hee hee hee, YOU know who I MEAN!" SD Kikka was laughing like a madman. "HAHAHAHAHA! Wait till I tell CERRIDWEN!"

"Oh, shut UP!" Yuri said, his cheeks becoming even redder.

Kikka was soon thinking up of a million things so that Yuri could make Cerridwen his, each plan more horrifying than the last. Yuri glanced over at Lei and Cerridwen, and the 2 of them looked so right together he wanted to do that iceberg attack on Lei right that instant.

But...

How could he compete with a GHOST?


	13. Brynhilde's Revenge!

Brynhilde's Revenge: Great Soul Trigger!

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: YAY! Bey Blade tourneys are back again, and it's time for them to strut their STUFF~~~!!! ^~^ Well, no night-out's complete without the Wing Blades singing "Eyes On Me" in _a capella_. Hmm...Yuri has got to do something! Plus, the arrival of the Pink Lady! Ohmigod, Kikka's opponent is in for a really major kick-up. Somebody throw her off, quick! R/R PLEASE~~~!!!

**DISCLAIMER**: I **DO NOT** own Bey Blade and all its characters and Bey Blades; I **DO OWN** the OC's and their Bey Blades written herein (except for Michiko, Ana and Hikari; they're owned by Bookie and Fluffychans, respectively). So no ripping off, and **NO SUING**. Thanks! ^.^

"Lady Celes! It's so wonderful to see you!"

"The pleasure and honor is all mine, Mr. Willowberry. How are you doing?"

"Just jolly good!" Mr. Willowberry gestured to Chairman Daitenji beside him. "You remember Daitenji?"

"Ah, yes. How could I forget?" Lady Celes smiled at him graciously. "Hello and good evening, Chairman Daitenji. This is such a surprise!"

"Good evening to you too, Lady Celes." Chairman Daitenji took off his top hat and bowed to her slightly. "We are very glad to see you here. We've sorely missed the good old days, if you could remember..."

"Yes, the good old days." Lady Celes nodded. "Indeed. Those days, Bey Blading was just pure, sheer fun. It's certainly grown up a lot in the last 20 years..."

"Why don't we have a seat over there? We have lots to talk about."

The 3 of them made their way towards their set places at the Presidential Table, and a waiter came after a few seconds, setting their set courses in front of them.

"Ah, camaraderie! Such a wonderful, wonderful thing." Mr. Willowberry smiled. "I really can't believe that it's happened again..."

"Yes, quite right," Lady Celes said as she spread her cloth napkin over her lap. "It's been a good 20 years."

"Didn't we all say that we'd meet like this again after 20 years? And yes, so much has changed." Chairman Daitenji nodded. "I could still remember it quite clearly, as if it only happened yesterday. St. Ingrid VS Balkov. I'll never see anything quite like it ever again."

"Mmm, and Lady Celes here was up against Mikhail Gorsky," Mr. Willowberry said, his eyes misting over. "The 2 of you were 2 wins apiece. It was anybody's game..."

"And in the end, St. Ingrid took home the bacon," Lady Celes said softly. "I really can't believe everything's happened so fast..."

"Let me see. You were there, along with Meredith Evans, Genevieve D'Arcy, Ninna Engstrom and Li Meiran." Mr. Willowberry blinked. "Whatever happened to Miss Meiran again?"

"Took off with her boyfriend just after we won," Lady Celes said, cutting up her steak. "Her father was so furious. She was engaged to marry this supposedly super-dashing _taipan_'s son who turned out to be a real bigot, and she ran off with this 'stranger from the mists'."

"Ah, yes. She was the only daughter of that hotel, shipping and antiques magnate; educated as a promising violin prodigy at Juilliard on full scholarship; then ran off and marry a 'heathen'. I think Li Tailan never got over at what happened to his daughter." Chairman Daitenji nodded over to the dance floor where several couples were dancing. "But it's a small world. After 20 years 'he' finally decided to rejoin the land of the living again."

"?" Lady Celes blinked. "Whatever do you mean, Chairman Daitenji?"

"I say! Why didn't I notice THAT before?" Mr. Willowberry took off his glasses, blinked several times, then put them on again, squinting to take a better look. "If Mr. Li were here right now, he's going to have triple heart attacks."

"!" Lady Celes nodded. "You're right...my, he's a spitting image of his father..."

"And he's here at the Zero Leg again. Isn't that just a little too much of a coincidence?" Chairman Daitenji smiled. "And I think there would be another unfortunate man who's going to lose his daughter to a 'heathen', just like so many years ago..."

There was a tumultuous round of applause from the dancing couples as the wonderful dinner dance ended. Max bid a hearty goodnight to a sweatdropping Shizue; Medain had almost thrown off Takao onto a nearby ice sculpture filled with exquisitely carved fruits; Kai gave a small bow to a still very aghast-looking Selenay; Yuri smiled in a goofy manner as SD Kikka gave him a GIANT bear hug; and Lei smiled and nodded over to Cerridwen, who smiled Nadeshiko Kinomoto-style (Gasco(i)gne(?): _Sumairu**, SUMAIRU**_~~~!!!) back at him. Then there was general chaos as all the invited guests made their way back to their respective hotels, Cerridwen being stopped for autographs by some Bey techs present. 

Then it was a lonely trek to their hotel, Medain almost cartwheeling in sheer joy as she finally realized that she was going to be out of that stupid dress in a few more minutes, as the other Wing Blades stood in a tight circle outside the pavilion waiting for Cerridwen.

"I am NEVER going to WEAR a frigging dress AGAIN for the rest of my LIFE~~~!!!" SD Medain calls out gaily.

"Huh?! What about your WEDDING DAY?!" SD Kikka asked, blinking. "Don't tell me you're only going to wear a pair of jeans and an oversized t-shirt."

"Who says I'm getting MARRIED?! I am going to be SO single for the rest of my DAYS!" SD Medain said, even more happily.

"Where's Cerridwen?" Shizue asked.

"I think her dance partner's asking for her cell phone number," SD Selenay muttered, a small black cloud hanging over her head.

Cerridwen came running up to them a little while later. "Sorry to keep you guys waiting, Lady Celes wanted the recap stats," she gasped as she met them.

"It's OK, Cerridwen, no big deal. Lady Celes was short of giving me a junta-type interrogation about Takao a little while ago after I successfully dislodged that punched-up brat from my arms," Medain replied.

"In fact, she asked all of us." Shizue looked at Cerridwen closely. "Well. Did she ask you about YOURS, Cerridwen?"

"Yes, she did."

"And...?"

"I told her that he likes eating _tofu_ in soy sauce and curry rice and everything Chinese," Cerridwen replied. "And he's a bit partial to Japanese cuisine right now, and he's beginning to like Pocky."

"..." SD Shizue sweatdropped. "That's...ALL you can SAY?"

"That's what he told me."

"No...'I'm-going-to-be-THE-Bey Blade-Champion-you-freaks-BETTER-watch-out' that kind of THING?!" SD Shizue asked incredulously.

"Huh?"

"No 'GOD-Cerridwen-you're-so-BEAUTIFUL-can-you-be-mine-forever' kind of CRAP?!" SD Selenay added.

"W-wait..."

"No 'I-just-absolutely-ADORE-ass-kicking-Bey Blade-battles-and-I'm-SOO-good-and-you're-NOT' something?!" SD Medain put in.

"H-hey..."

"No...pick-up LINES?!" SD Kikka asked last.

"W-well...what can I say? He...well...I kind of...asked him what he liked, and..." SD Cerridwen turned helplessly cute. "I...we...didn't talk anything about TOMORROW..."

"..." The 4 SD girls looked at each other, their eyes little beads, then looked over at SD Cerridwen, who became even more minute, her eyes little beads, blinking. "W-what is it...?"

"..." SD Kikka patted her on her shoulder. "You know, Cerridwen, you're NOWHERE close as getting a boyfriend in that condition. Now what am I to say to Yuri...?"

"Huh???"

"OK everybody, follow the bouncing white ball and let's all start to SING~~~!!!" SD Medain grabbed a startled SD Cerridwen by her right arm and smiled evilly. "Whenever sang my songs..." she sang in alto.

"Aah-aah-aah..." SD Kikka and SD Selenay sang in perfectly blended second voices, their hands clasped up front.

SD Shizue grabbed SD Cerridwen's left arm. "On the stage, on my own..." she sang in soprano 2.

"Aah-aah-aah...."

"Whenever said my words..."

"Aah-aah-aah..."

"Wishing they, would be heard..."

SD Medain and SD Shizue looked at each other, smiled evilly, then sang in a beautifully blended tone, "I saw you smiling at me, was it real or just my fantasy?"

"Wooh-ooh-ooh..."

"You'd always be there in the corner...of this tiny little bar..."

"Ooh-ooh-ooh..."

"My last night here for you..." SD Medain sang, throwing her right arm out.

"Aah-aah-aah..."

"Same old songs, just once more..." SD Shizue sang, throwing her left arm out.

"Aah-aah-aah..."

"My last night here with you..."

"Aah-aah-aah..."

"Maybe yes, maybe no..."

SD Medain and SD Shizue started making flamboyant gestures with their hands as they sang, "I kind of liked it your way, when you shyly placed your eyes on me..."

"Ooh-ooh-ooh..."

"Did you ever know...that I had mine on you?"

SD Medain and SD Shizue started going around SD Cerridwen in a slow turning waltz, with matching sweeping hand gestures, SD Kikka and SD Selenay pirouetting. "Darling so there you were..." SD Medain and SD Shizue sang. 

"Aah-aah..." SD Kikka sang.

"With that look on your face..." 

"Aah-aah..." SD Selenay sang.

"As if you're never hurt..."

"Aah.-aah..."

"As if you're never down...?"

"Aaah-aah-aah-aah-aah..."

"Shall I be the one for you...."

"Aah-aah..."

"Who pinches you softly but sure?"

"Aah-aah..."

The 4 Wing Blades looked at each other then held their hands to their hearts.

"If frown is shown then, I will know that you are no dreamer..." they sang in perfectly blended voices. 

SD Cerridwen turned beet-red. "Oh...cut it out, ALREADY~~~!!!"

Laughing, the 4 of them went after Cerridwen, who had managed to run to their limousine at the speed of light.

"..." Max was blinking. He and the rest of the BBA Team were waiting for Chairman Daitenji for a ride to their hotel. They saw the Wing Blades run past them, Cerridwen in the lead. "Huh...? What was that all about..."

"Don't ask me, I don't want to talk about them for NOW," Takao growled. "That Medain is SURE as DEAD."

"How was it?" Professor asked them. "Your dancing gigs, I mean?"

"It was pretty OK, until Medain decided halfway that she wanted a broomstick, not a dancing partner." SD Takao turned into a burning ogre. "It wasn't MY idea to have HER for a frigging PARTNER in the first PLACE~~~!!!"

"Shizue's quiet," Max put in.

"Selenay's as stiff as a terribly frightened porcupine, although she has none of those spines to deal with," Kai mused.

"I ended up as Kikka's Pooh bear," Yuri said.

"..." Lei was just quiet.

SD Professor blinked. "Uh...Lei...?"

"Huh? Were you saying something, Professor?" Lei asked, blinking, as if he had just suddenly come out of his reverie.

"..." SD Takao had his arms over his chest. "It's pretty clear that they were having such a REALLY great time they forgot what was going on around THEM. So. How does it feel like dancing with Cerridwen Aerin Elisabeth Ascot-Elridge?"

"It's getting late, we really should be heading back to the hotel," Lei answered, then turned and started walking away. The rest of them turned SD, their eyes little beads, blinking. A dead leaf rolled past.

"Uh...did he just forget we're SUPPOSED to wait for Chairman Daitenji? This was HIS idea, right?" SD Max asked, his eyes little beads, blinking.

"..." SD Kai had his eyes closed, a gargantuan pulsing twitch on top of his head, his arms crossed over his chest. "He's HOPELESS. We really can't do anything about him NOW."

SD Yuri had a goofy look on his face.

"???" SD Takao was blinking. "Eh? What was THAT all ABOUT?"

SD Professor sweatdropped. "It's really nothing, Takao. REALLY."

"Sorry for making you wait like this, I had to talk to Mr. Willowberry regarding the opening ceremonies tomorrow." Chairman Daitenji said a little while later, coming up to where they were standing. He blinked. "Eh? Where's Lei?"

"He just left. Long story, Chairman Daitenji." SD Max had a sweatdrop as well. "Uh...let's go."

There were wild cheers, and soon the spotlight shone down on DJ, as he held his microphone aloft. "HEEEEELLLLLLLOOOOO and GOOD DAAAAAYYYY to you, Bey Blade FANATICS~~~!!! Welcome to the Bey Blade Zero Pre-Finals TOURRRRNNNAAAAAMMMMEEEENNNTTTTT~~~~!!!! I'm your host, DJ, and I must SAY that this is QUITE a turn-out for all you die-hard Bey Blade fanatics out there...wow, I've never seen this much people ever since the recently concluded WORRLLLDDD FFFFIIIIIINNNNAAAAAALLLLLSSSSS~~~!!! And that's saying quite a LOT~~~~!!! Well then people, how are you ALL DDDOOOIIINNNGGGG~~~~??!?"

The audience gave thunderous roars and whoops of approval.

"Alright, I could SEE that you're ALL very EXCITED~~~!!! YEAH~~~!!! I'm excited as well, for this year's Zero Pre-Finals has a lot of TOUGH TEAMS competing in it...yes, you heard me RIGHT~~~!!! A record 18 TEAMS~~~!!! Now who's the best, and who's going to be one of the REST~~~? Well, it's for ALL of us to find OUT~~~!!!" DJ sweeps his arm in a wide arc. "Here they are, the participating TEAMS~~~!!! Let's all give them a ROUND of APPLAUSE~~~!!!"

"Excuse me! Coming through!"

Mao tried to squeeze in through the throng that were walking into the Acropolis Bey Stadium, which was built on a small artificial island overlooking the Acropolis, in honor of the occasion. She was pushed, pulled, almost grabbed, but she made it through, nonetheless, and she hurried to the upper ringside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lei beforehand.

She sees the BBA Team standing in the front row of the team lineup. She then waved her arms in the air, trying to catch Lei's attention. "HEY~~~!!! LEI~~~!!! HEY~~~!!!"

"...from Japan...we bring you...the winner of the recently concluded Bey Blade World Championship Tournament Finals...the BBA TEAM~~~!!!"

Max waved heartily at the audience, along with Takao. Kai and Yuri were just quiet, and Lei was blinking. Professor was smiling shyly as he held his laptop.

"HEY~~~!!! LEI~~~!!!" Mao calls out, waving her arms even more vigorously.

"?" Lei blinked, then saw Mao. He smiled at her, then gave a small wave.

The audience were roaring their awe and approval at the World Champions, and Max was really happy. "WOW~~~!!! I can't believe how many fans we all HAVE~~~!!! HEY~~~!!!" he said, waving his arms with more gusto.

"..." Kai was just quiet.

"And last, but definitely not the least, the Zero Finals Champions~~~!!!" DJ was nodding. "May I present to you...the beautiful and talented ladies...of the ST. INGRID ABBEY~~~!!! Let's hear it for the WING BLADES~~~!!!"

The roars, if it were possible, had become even more deafening; and Takao stuck fingers into his ears as the din went on around them like a foghorn going 300 times deadlier than normal. "Don't they know how to appreciate good talent when they see ONE~~~?!" Takao shouts to make himself heard above all the noise. "I mean...COME ON~~~!!!"

"I know good talent when I see one, Kinogu, and it's definitely NOT YOU," Kai shouted back.

"HEY~~~!!!"

"Now that you've met the teams, let's hear it from the venerable chairman of the Bey Blade Battle Association himself, Mr. Gogoro DAITENJI~~~!!!" DJ nodded. "EVERYBODY~~~!!! Let's give him a warm round of APPLAUSE~~~!!!"

"LEI!" Mao said happily. She gave him a hug. "I thought I wouldn't be able to make it in time, the immigration guys at the airport desk were short of confiscating my satchel...I just got this straight from China, and the elders were so anxious to give it to you..."

"Really?"

"Oh, and Rai sends his regards," Mao added, nodding. "He can't leave Japan, he's waiting for Keiki. But he said he'll try and come as soonest."

"That's great!"

SD Takao had a huge sweatdrop on his head. "The way these 2 are going, you'd think they don't have any companions with them..."

SD Max gave him a goofy smile. "Hey, it's just NATURAL, they ARE a couple, right?"

"..." Yuri was looking down at the stadium beneath them, his eyes narrowing. "If you 3 back there have finished talking, then you'd better stop that idle chatter and watch. We're going to meet these girls anytime soon."

"?" Mao blinked, then looked below. "OH!"

DJ swept his arm in a wide arc. "Bladers, step FORWARD~~~!!!"

"..." Kikka was frowning as she saw Mao up in the stands, her arms about Lei. She clenches her fists. "NO! EVIL! That pink MOPPET is right HERE~~~?! No frigging WAY~~~!!!"

"..." Selenay, who was sitting in the relative safety of the shadows of the dugout (^^;;) sighed and shook her head. "Uh-oh. Kikka's ANGRY."

"Are you READY~~~?!" DJ nodded. "OK~~~!!!"

"..." Emilio Soltera smiled as he clicked his Bey Blade into place into his Shooter. "Hee. It's too soon you'll say adios, senorita. Mark my words."

"You'll be saying adios, SPEEDY~~~!!!" Kikka's eyes narrowed and fitted her own Bey Blade into its Shooter.

"!" Professor was amazed. "That...Shooting Star..."

"3...2..1...GOOOOO...SHOOOOOTTTTT~~~!!!"

Emilio laughed. "Hasta la vista! See you in a million YEARS~~~!!!"

"Not if I can help IT~~~!!!" Kikka raised her hand. "BRYNHILDE~~~!!! GREAT SOUL TRIGGER~~~!!!"

There was an ominous flash, and all of them covered their faces from the blinding glare. The next thing they knew, Emilio's Bey Blade was thrown off the stadium, and the young man was astonished.

"What THE~~~"

"Vayeane, OUT~~~!!! Winner, BRYNHILDE~~~!!! First score goes to the WING BLADES~~~!!!" DJ was shouting. 

Takao sat there with his mouth hanging open. "I can't believe it...she did that guy in...in just a few SECONDS?!"

"..." Kikka was frowning, as she got her Bey Blade. She then looked up at where the BBA Team were seated. 

"..." Yuri's eyes were wide.

Medain, who was seated beside Selenay with her Discman earphones in her ears, smiled. 

"Yep, the BBA Team is in for a real nasty treat," Medain said softly. "And I think Yuri knows it too. It's just not about the pink moppet anymore. It's the Tournament, and Kikka's kicked into high gear, big time. And when Kikka's frowning, it's time to get serious. Nobody can stop her now."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **"Eyes On Me" copyright Squaresoft. Vocalization parts by Selenay, Kikka; lyrical parts (^^::) Medain and Shizue, unless otherwise noted. How's that for a Takarazuka Spectacular?! Eat your heart out, Team HANA~~~!!! ^o^


	14. Memories of a Feather

Memories of a Feather

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** I CAN'T believe months had passed since I last updated this story. My muses were short of going into writer's block strike, and I really had to stare at a picture of Billy Lee Black to get me going again. Oh WELL. ENJOY~~~!!!

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Bey Blade and all its characters; I own the OC's portrayed herein (except for other OC's as they are owned by their respective authors and I have their permission to use them). NO SUING~~~!!!

Cerridwen was in a crush of spectators waiting for a chance to get into the Bey Stadium, and she was short of total panic.

***_What a day to forget my laptop! Oh, if I could've just ignored them singing that 'Eyes On Me' a capella version over and over until their voices got hoarse, I would toss this in and NOT my sketchpad! I do hope I'm not that late yet..._***

There was a lurch, and Cerridwen was almost trampled in the process as the spectators surged forward, like water breaking loose from a dam. She hurried through the gates, showed the security officers her ID, and was about to duck into the cool hallways leading to the dugouts beyond when somebody reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Cerri! HEY! I was looking all over for YOU!"

Cerridwen blinked, then smiled. "Johnny!"

"Bloody bunch of security officers, they were actually short of hauling me into a police cell just because I look like THIS. Damn, can't they make sense of who's a goon and who's NOT anymore?!" Johnny MacGregor sighed. "The nerve of it all."

"Good thing I was around to sort things out before it could even escalate into a more embarrassing affair." Ralf Jurgen nodded over at Cerridwen. "Hello and good day, Lady Ascot-Elridge."

"Oh! You're all here to watch?" Cerridwen asked the 15 (Oo;; is HE?!) year-old German.

"Yes, my dear lovely Aphrodite, we are here to cheer you on until the ends of the world and beyond." Giancarlo Donatore smiled at her easily. "I trust your other teammates are in there, right now?"

"Yes...it was so idiotic of me to leave my laptop behind. Now I'm pretty sure Medain would throttle me..."

"Never fear, _mademoiselle_, Countess Summer wouldn't even think of doing that. She would just stab you dead with a plastic knife, more likely." Oliver Polanski nodded. "And here I was thinking Ralf is such a SAINT."

"I heard THAT, Oliver."

"Well...I really have to get to the dugout..." Cerridwen said. "You're ringside suites...?"

"Just this once, we have a need for hobnobbing with the ordinary people, and the caviar was rather beginning to bore me." Ralf nodded. "If the Ladies would not mind...could we get into the dugout with you?" 

"I'm pretty sure Kikka would love that, she's been missing her cousin terribly for AGES." Cerridwen nodded. She smiled. "Well...what are we waiting for...? Let's go!"

"...OW! That's gotta HURT~~~!!! And Emilio gets it pretty HARD~~~!!! Could this mean that the end of Vayeane's just seconds AWAY?!"

"Hey! Never dreamed I'll be seeing you 4 again. What's up? You were getting tired of getting pool tans?" Medain said, her eyes widening upon seeing Team Europe file into the dugout.

"We were actually thinking of going on a Mediterranean cruise, but Giancarlo's father had to use their yachts for his cousin's 5th birthday. Would you believe that they celebrated by doing a regatta?" Oliver smiled. "It's been quite a long time since we last exchanged pleasantries..."

"Eh, Lady Celes was acting up again on our training," Selenay answered with a long suffering sigh. "Suffice it to say, it was a boon in disguise. I had those stuffy old wine barons out of my hair for weeks. They were discussing their next venue for our chateaux's annual HUNT, would you BELIEVE?!"

"What's wrong with the hunt? I mean, we've been doing it for centuries," Giancarlo replied. "And Papa's been threatening to trespass into my uncle's estate for he was robbing us of our very valuable pheasants."

"PLEASE. You forget I don't go for animal murder!" Selenay told him.

"Hey, nobody was forcing you to listen to the hunt plans, anyway. What were you thinking?"

"It wasn't my FAULT they were talking in the dining room while I ATE." 

"You know you should try going out with the main hunting party sometime," Johnny said, sitting across Selenay, "it's really COOL."

"Oh shut UP, MACGREGOR~~~!!!"

"We really should go out for an all-meat dinner sometime." Giancarlo looked over at Oliver. "What do you think? Could you make it a carnivore's night-out?"

Oliver laughed. "I was meaning to try out this new fox steak recipe...it's been in our family for ages..."

Selenay turned a little green. "Shut up, POLANSKI~~~!!!"

Oliver, Johnny, and Giancarlo were laughing good-naturedly, while Selenay's eyes turned wobbly. Medain turned SD, her teeth tiny fangs. "We were planning on going on a carnivore's night-out after this day's over. Forget about backing out Selenay, I've already made reservations." 

More laughter.

Selenay turned SD, her eyes devilish little slits. "Just have one more GO at me, Medain, I'm going to show the entire world how you look in a DRESS and how you manage to get away hogging the 'BEST' looking guy in the opening DANCE~~~!!!" 

There were a couple of thin dark blue vertical lines that appeared on top of SD Medain's head.

"Somebody managed to get through Iron Clad SUMMER~~~?!" SD Giancarlo asked, his eyes wide.

"Yes, oh YES~~~!!!" SD Selenay held up her Athaelion i190. "I've captured it ALL on FULL STREAM VIDEO~~~!!!"

The 3 young men gathered around SD Selenay, their mouths little O's of surprise.

"Blimey. You were actually a WOMAN last night, Medain?" SD Johnny said in mock horror.

"Zip it or I'll kill you, MacGregor," SD Medain growled, an ominous black aura emanating from her being.

"And...**_SACRE BLEU_~~~!!!** What on EARTH is THIS~~~?! Is THIS who I think it IS~~~?!" SD Oliver clapped a hand to his mouth.

"It IS~~~!!!" SD Giancarlo started waving his arms in the air very frantically. "How could YOU~~~?! How ** COULD YOU~~~?!**"

"**Shut UP~~~!!!**"

As SD Medain leapt at SD Giancarlo to throttle his throat, Ralf sighed then looked towards the battle dish (Oo;;) where his 12 year-old cousin was Blading. 

"How many minutes into the game is it anyway?" Ralf asked Shizue, as he stood there looking at Kikka.

"Um, a little less than 2 minutes," Shizue replied. "That Emilio guy's really milking it for all it's worth."

"Her synch ratio's in synch with her recap stats," Cerridwen mused, flipping her Apple iiMac open and typing into it at a staccato pace. She looked over at Shizue. "How many times did she Rave?"

"Since you left to get your laptop?" Shizue blinked. "2 times, already. She's really angry. The Pink Girl from Hell showed up."

"Pink Girl from Hell...?" SD Cerridwen blinked.

"RALF!" SD Giancarlo gasped, SD Medain still holding on to his neck as she snarled. "The...BBA...are...HERE..." 

"What?" 

SD Giancarlo pushed SD Medain off of him. "The BBA Team's HERE!" 

Ralf looked surprised. "They ARE?" 

Shizue looked up at Ralf. "You KNOW them?" 

"Yes, we battled with those guys before they all headed straight to the Russian Finals," Oliver said, blinking. "I could safely say that they ARE a really hazardous lot." 

"You battled with them...?" Shizue was wide-eyed. "So who won?" 

"Believe it OR not, they did." Johnny frowned. "We still have an old score to settle with that arrogant little glutton." 

"Sorry?" Cerridwen blinked. "WHO'S a glutton?" 

"That Takao Kinogu." Johnny snorted. "He almost drained the Jurgen manorial food reserves. And that's saying something. You DO know how Ralf hates doing grocery shopping." 

"Takao Kinogu's a GLUTTON?" Shizue looked over at Medain. "I guess you'll have a VERY HUGE problem in your hands, Medain, once he learns that your family's very famous for pioneering the 'villa restaurant' in Morocco."

SD Medain glared at her. "Do you want ME to tell MAX that you LIKE HIM?!" 

SD Shizue twitched. "EXCUSE me?"

"...and VAYEANE'S OUT~~~!!!" DJ swipes his arm. "Winner...KIKKA REINHOLT for the WING BLADES TEAM~~~!!!"

Kikka caught her whirling crimson blade with one hand and looked at Emilio with a small frown on her face. "You were saying, SPEEDY?"

Emilio looked right back at her for a few seconds until his eyes turned wobbly. He then picked up his Bey Blade and ran positively howling out of the arena.

Kikka, DJ, Oliver and Giancarlo were silent for a few seconds then turned SD and fell down on their heads. Ralf had a sweatdrop on his head, his eyes closed and his right eyebrow twitching. "He brings disgrace to all those who have Iberian blood in their veins...how childish..." 

DJ sweatdropped, then nodded. "Well...we could safely say that he did his best in battling Ms. Reinholt, but I guess his preparations came a little...short. Anyway....1 point to the Wing Blades Team, nil to Team Spain. Would Team Spain bounce right back into the game in round 2? That's for all of us to find out!" He swipes his arm. "Alright, next BLADERS~~~!!! Please step FORWARD~~~!!!"

SD Kikka went back to the dugout and was VERY pleased to see her older cousin standing there. "RALF! When oh WHEN did you ARRIVE? Mama was going on that you were on this Mediterranean cruise!" She then bounced right up and gave him a koala hug. "I thought I won't be seeing you again until the day I turn 90~~~!!!" 

"Well, Giancarlo was pestering us to go on that Mediterranean cruise, he's on the run from a psychopathic female, or so he says. Good thing his father hijacked all yachts." Ralf hugged her back. "How's the little mushroom?"

"Still as sprightly as ALWAYS~~~!!!" Kikka blinked. "Hey, Cerridwen, it's your turn NEXT!"

"H-huh...?"

DJ was blinking. "Uh...next competing Blader from the Wing Blades Team...please step forward..."

"Oh dear!" Cerridwen hastily put her Apple iiMac down then hurried to the arena. "Mr. DJ! Here I am!" she calls out, waving her right hand.

"..." Kikka's eyes turned into minute beads as she looked over at both Medain and Shizue, who had both gone unusually quiet. "What happened...?" 

"Long story." SD Selenay reached out and turned her into a stuffed toy. She turned chibi puppy. "I guess I can hug you now, that 'don't-hug-me-ban' has expired quite a few seconds ago."

SD Kikka's eyes turned widely circular.

"Un-HUG ME~~~!!!"

"W-O-W." SD Takao's eyes turned into little hearts. "Are you sure she's HUMAN, Yuri...?! Why is she SOOO DIVINE~~~?!"

"Oh she's HUMAN alright, it's just that she's already TAKEN." SD Max gave a hearty little grin. "I don't think you wouldn't want to be at the receiving end of that iceberg attack again, Takao."

"What do you mean, she's TAKEN?! Yuri doesn't even give a hoot about CERRIDWEN~~~!!!" SD Takao started waving his arms in the air over at Cerridwen, his eyes little hearts, a sparkly aura going about him. "OI~~~!!! CERRIDWEN~~~!!! Never FEAR~~~!!! Your ADONIS IS HERE~~~"

A metal folding chair came hurtling out of nowhere and knocked Takao flat to the ground. SD Yuri's eyes were devilish little slits, and his teeth turned to jagged fangs, his face very red. "Who told YOU you're HER ADONIS you IDIOT~~~?! Who SAID you're that ADONIS~~~?!" he snarled. "Are you asking for a FREE LOBOTOMY~~~?!"

SD Takao's eyes turned to little spirals, while SD Max, SD Lei, SD Mao, and SD Professor had their fists to their mouths, their eyes wide and blinking. SD Kai had a gargantuan twitch on his head. "Are you going to QUIT that Ivanov or do you want that metal folding chair as a crown on your HEAD?!" he muttered.

SD Takao suddenly raised a fist into the air, his background turning into a dazzling, Japanese style sun (think Street Fighter E. Honda's background in his stage). "YEAH~~~!!! Tell him as it is, KAI~~~!!!"

"And stop acting like a Shakespearean reject, Takao, or I'll have to throw you in with HIM," SD Kai continued. 

SD Takao's background crashed down behind him, and his teeth turned to jagged little fangs, as he waved his closed right fist at a still twitching SD Kai. "And I THOUGHT you were going to back ME UP~~~!!! ** I HATE YOU~~~!!!**" 

SD Lei turned into a helpless looking chibi neko, stray hairs sticking out of his coiffure, a huge sweatdrop on his head. "Uh...can you guys quit IT?"

DJ, meanwhile, was smiling as he looked from Blader to Blader. "Alright, let's give it a hand for Luis Santillan and Cerridwen Aerin Ascot-Elridge~~~!!! Who will win in this very exciting match...? As you all know, Ms. Ascot-Elridge is a Guild Master and a premiere Bey Blader from Ellincourt, ENGLAND~~~!!! At the tender age of 13, she has mastered the ways of the Bey and is one of the ONLY 5 Guild Masters known in EXISTENCE~~~!!!"

"A Guild Master?" Mao blinked. "What's that?"

"A legendary Bey tech," Professor answered, his expression going giddy. "Ooooohhhh CERRIDWEN~~~!!!"

"...and representing the Iberian peninsula, Luis Santillan! As you all know, Team Spain has always been a VERY consistent and premiere Bey Blade team that has graced all prestigious tourneys the world OVER~~~!!! They aren't exactly giving the Wing Blades Team some respite, for they are very dangerous Bey Blade warriors, as...the previous battle showed." DJ sweatdropped. "OK! Let's get it ON~~~!!!"

"Heh." Luis Santillan smirked as he fixed his black Bey Blade into his Shooter. "Guild Master or not, you're going down senorita. I really hate to say it but it's TRUE."

"I have no plans of going down, Mr. Santillan, and I'm NOT about to start right now." Cerridwen got a curious cream colored crystal dangling from a fine silver chain about her neck then held it out. 

"???" SD Takao blinked. "What on earth is THAT~~~?!"

"A summoning device," Yuri explained, looking at the events going on down below with a serious look in his curious blue eyes. "Royal houses have that. Johnny MacGregor and Cerridwen Aerin Ascot-Elridge...then Arthur Lancaster..." 

"A summoning...WHAT?! Summoning...?" SD Takao had several question marks on top of his head. 

"Ever played an RPG game, Kinogu...?" Kai asked. 

"???" SD Takao's eyes became little beads. "Now how am I to play with a rocket propelled grenade...?" 

"He means role playing games," Max told Takao. "It's a video game genre." 

"Video games?" SD Takao even looked more confused. "The only things I'm good at are Bey Blading, running away from _kendo_ practice, and bashing people at _King of Fighters_ _2003_..." 

"Figures. Your miniscule brain wouldn't be able to handle IT," Kai muttered. 

"What the HELL are you getting AT~~~?!" 

"Anyway, if you happened to find a very glossy advertisement in a video game magazine involving swords, magic...it's not that hard to understand that summoning isn't very far behind. Summoning means calling forth spirits of great power, usually comprised of an element. It's a _Final Fantasy_ staple. Normally, some of us with -Holy Beasts- have no need of summoning devices. We just call them forth from our Bey Blades. Those with summoning devices need THOSE devices in order for them to call their -Holy Beast- forth." Kai's eyes turned serious. "Summoning devices were family heirlooms of royal houses, usually in the European old nobility. That means they are passed down from generation to generation. To be able to be bestowed with such an heirloom is a very great honor in their part. In so doing, they are like the embodiment of their House." 

"Summoning devices are very rare, and very priceless," Yuri continued. "To be able to wield one needs great strength of both spirit and mind. And...there has been talk going on around about the excavations your father's dealing with, Takao." 

"Father...?! What about those archaeological excavations...?!" 

"He's come to a conclusion that these summoning devices aren't only pretty baubles. They were especially made as to seal the -Holy Beast- within." Yuri's eyes narrowed. "These -Holy Beasts- were so powerful that they have to be sealed...and only those persons to whom the summoning devices were given would be able to call them forth and control them. So not all could use them." 

"Royal houses..." Max blinked. "So...it's like, Team Europe..." 

"Giancarlo Donatore and Ralf Jurgen use a modified summoning device...Giancarlo still cannot control his Amphisbaena that well, while Ralf's quite getting there. A REAL summoning device is that used by Johnny MacGregor. Oliver calls forth his Unicorn like any Bey Blader out there." Kai nodded. "The only people possessing summoning devices in this century are only a handful...but your Father's betting that there are still many out there. Some royal houses don't think it proper to brandish them around like some vulgar badge of authority or something." 

"So...what's the difference between a modified and a REAL summoning device?" Lei asked. 

"A modified summoning device was altered by some of the members of the royal houses it belonged to as a means to 'tame' the raging -Holy Beast- they possess...some were very powerful. The Donatore and Jurgen noble families are some of those families who possess such terrible -Holy Beasts-, and in so doing, nobody could really stand up against them. And since it's modified, the heirs would have a hard time controlling them, for in such altered state, a -Holy Beast- becomes really hard to control because they turn temperamental. You saw what happened with Amphisbaena. As with Ralf...he's certainly mastered his Griffinlion as to make his -Holy Beast- do all sorts of things that are quite unimaginable in ordinary Bey Bladers' reckoning. 

"A REAL summoning device has successfully sealed the -Holy Beast- inside of them, and therefore, they weren't altered from their original state. Even if they seem weaker than those of Amphisbaena and Griffinlion, these -Holy Beasts- stuck inside a REAL summoning device have a knack of heightening its elemental affiliation to infinity if they so choose to do so. Kinda like Alexander, from _Final Fantasy IX_...anyway, it's a good thing that only a handful of Bey Bladers use summoning devices...if each and every one of us could be able to wield one, the world would be one complete bedlam." Kai nodded again. "I can see why Ivanov's terrified of her..." 

"..." Cerridwen closed her eyes. "Guardian of Life...Bringer of Balance...Keeper of Eternity...I summon thee, Twilight Seeker...bound as I am by blood and oath...come before me now!"

The cream colored crystal glowed faintly, and as they all saw, a sphere of light shot out of it and headed straight into the central bit of Cerridwen's cream-colored Bey, and there was a faint sigil of a great winged beast surrounded by some sort of stained glass decoration that appeared about it.

Cerridwen's eyes slowly opened. "Come forth...Crescendo!"

The sphere of light glowed even more brilliantly, and there came a flurry of glowing white feathers that surrounded Cerridwen, seeming to come from her Bey Blade itself.

Luis harumphed, then his deep violet eyes narrowed as he glared right at the petite 13 year-old. "How many chickens did you KILL?! And WHAT was that piece of snazzy FX, anyway?! You're going DOWN, senorita!"

"BLADERS~~~!!! Get ready to RIP IT~~~!!!" DJ calls out.

"3..."

Luis pointed his Shooter at the battle dish.

"2..."

Cerridwen fitted her Bey Blade into its Shooter, a cream colored one with stylized seraph wings folded about the handle, a cream colored cabochon on top.

"1..."

Side view of both fighters. The BBA Team waited with tense anticipation, the Wing Blades watching, Team Europe just quiet.

"GOOOOOOOOOOO...SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT~~~!!!"

Luis and Cerridwen let go of their Bey Blades at the same time. Luis grinned evilly. "Let's see you get TOASTED~~~!!! WYVERN~~~!!! ** FIRE SPIN~~~!!!**"

An orange light shoots out from the central bit, and a -Holy Beast- appeared, a very huge wyvern at that, roaring for all its worth. A furious fire tornado swirled about it, interspersed with curling tendrils of black flame. 

Wyvern headed straight towards Crescendo. Takao and Max grabbed each other by the shoulders, Mao had her hand to her mouth, Lei's amber yellow eyes were wide, Yuri and Kai were just quiet, Medain and Shizue still quiet, Selenay still hugging Kikka, Giancarlo and Oliver blinking, Johnny tense, Ralf having his arms crossed over his chest, DJ openmouthed, the rest of the audience deathly still.

"..." Cerridwen was just looking at the fire tornado quietly for a few seconds, then her mint green eyes narrowed.

"CRESCENDO~~~!!!" 

Crescendo hurtled towards Wyvern, scattering glowing white feathers in its wake. Then, just as suddenly, a haunting melody was heard, and DJ blinked. 

"Can you hear that MELODY~~~?! Cripes, where is it coming FROM~~~~?!" 

Cerridwen swipes her left arm, the glowing white feathers all swirling about her in a flurry. 

"**RESONANCE~~~!!!**" 

A cream colored light shot out from the central bit, and there was an unfurling of wings. A cream colored panther (looking astonishingly like FFIX's Madeen...BTW, is that a cat or a DOG~~~~?! OO;;) appeared in a flurry of glowing white feathers, its eyes closed. The camera (^^;;) then slowly zoomed in, to which Crescendo opened its eyes very suddenly, revealing beautiful, silver eyes. 

It glared right at Wyvern, which roared again and the fire tornado about it increased in ferocity. Crescendo then shook its seraph wings, roared, then headed straight towards Wyvern, scattering the glowing white feathers about as if it was blown hither and thither by a great wind, the haunting melody turning into a circus calliope music. It was heard all throughout the stadium, and Kai's eyes widened. 

"What THE~~~" Takao stood up. "What kind of -Holy Beast- is THAT~~~?!" 

Crescendo went through Wyvern in one great blinding white flash, to which the Madeen-like creature lightly alighted on the opposite end of the battle dish, Wyvern just floating very still in the middle of the arena. Then, very suddenly, there was another series of white flashes, to which Wyvern roared, and feathers suddenly burst all around it, along with a scattering of several pure crystalline notes. 

"~~~!!!" Mao held her hands to her mouth. "That...THAT..." 

Yuri's eyes narrowed. "Would you believe that Crescendo's supposed to be the Guardian of Life...?" 

Wyvern the Bey Blade separated, and Luis' eyes widened in shock as its pieces fell down to the bottom of the battle dish in slow motion. DJ was astounded, as with the rest of the entire audience...but Kai felt very frightened indeed. Even if the move seemed harmless...he knew right away that Luis wouldn't be able to fight again in the second round. 

DJ was still openmouthed and quiet for a few seconds, before one of the camera guys standing at the other end of the battle dish waved his arm to get his attention. He gulps. "Oops...sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen...it just happened so fast, I completely forgot that we're in the middle of a Bey Blade match here~~~!!!" DJ swipes his arm. "We have a WINNER~~~!!! Cerridwen Aerin Ascot-Elridge...the WING BLADES TEAM~~~!!!" 

As if someone suddenly pushed on the anti-mute switch (^^;;) on a TV remote control, the audience suddenly gave a very loud roar, interspersed with several gasps and wows for they were really impressed with what has happened. 

Max's eyes went very wide. "Is that ALLOWED?" 

"Wyvern wasn't able to withstand that head-on collision with Crescendo," Professor was saying, as he typed furiously on his laptop. He gulped. "That Bey Blade has really excellent defense capabilities...almost short of becoming infinite. And...the worst thing about it is...how the HECK was Cerridwen able to launch her Bey Blade at THAT speed....?! It's like running into a 20 foot thick titanium wall at the speed of light...any Bey could get crushed by that impact...but...she just managed to SEPARATE them...what's going on in HERE~~~?!" 

"If that were Arthur Lancaster's Avalon...it would be crushed beyond recognition." Yuri shuddered. 

Kai's eyes became blank. He remembered Saint Dranzer's powers... 

He knew that its powers were very unbelievable, but he didn't imagine that there would be Bey Blades as dangerous as it is out there. The only Bey Blade he knew with that kind of power in existence is his older sister's Bey Blade. 

Was it really possible...that Ana knew of this all along and has she lured him here to use the Black Dranzer...? 

There was a smirk from the shadows, and Kai quickly looked around, his heart banging wildly in his chest, his hands shaking in fear...but he saw no one.

Lei could only stare at Crescendo in disbelief. But just as he was just about to look away, the -Holy Beast- looked up and stared right at him, its silver eyes fixed on his amber yellow own, the feathers still swirling about it.

"...Lei, are you alright...?"

"H-huh?" Lei blinked, and at that same instant, Crescendo was gone. He looked to his left. Mao was looking at him with a very worried expression on her face. "You look pale..." 

"Uh...y-yes, I'm fine..." Lei answered.

He turned his attention back to the battle dish again, to which Cerridwen caught the whirling Bey Blade back into her hand. He was bewildered.

***_What was that all about...? Was it just my imagination...? Did Crescendo just stare at me a while ago...?_*** Lei bit his lip. ***_What could this possibly mean...?_*** 

Ana was smiling as she turned and walked away, her scarf fluttering at her passing.

"Yes, Saint Dranzer did its work just fine. Be very afraid, Kai. The Black Dranzer would be rising again, pretty soon. And there's nothing you could do to stop it," she said softly.

She laughed lightly and went back into the shadows and disappeared.

And Ana knew it was just the horrifying beginning.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Summoning devices?! Yep, this was borrowed from Final Fantasy IX, but I can assure you, no Alexander would be present. I just made this story about Johnny and Salamander, Giancarlo and Amphisbaena, and Ralf and Griffinlion. But aren't you curious as why Oliver's the only one who doesn't use any sort of heraldic device from which Unicorn would pop out from...? HMM. And definite OOCness. Yuri Ivanov would NOT hurl a metal folding chair at anyone for just teasing him about a crush...but then again, we'll NEVER know, because he doesn't EVEN have a CRUSH in the first place. OO;;


	15. Raindrops

Raindrops

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** WOW has it been that LONG since I've uploaded this ficcie…?! ;; GOMEN to THAT, been plagued by writer's block for such a LONG, LONG time, and I'm actually hyperventilating over that trenchcoat clad gunslinger Dante from Devil May Cry…**KIYAAAAAA!!!** o Anyway, Cerridwen shows Luis Santillan a thing or two regarding the truth about being small and terrible, Shizue freezes the entire stadium over with Falcrest, and the BBA, Wing Blades, and Team Europe…Teams (;;) get caught in the rain. Why the heck did it suddenly get so HOT in HERE?! OO;; R/R PLEASE!!!

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**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Bey Blade and all its characters, and some of the OC's portrayed herein, as they're owned by their respective authors. Some of the other OC's are mine, though. So NO SUING!!!

Cerridwen fitted Crescendo into her Shooter, looking over at Luis, who was nervously fitting his own Bey Blade after assembling it again into his own Shooter at the other side of the battle dish. She blinked.

_Good form, if I do say so myself. His Bey Blade's defensive and offensive ratings are way above average, well within a 15 to 20% critical hit chance in the last 3.25 seconds of his average Bey match, usually lasting for 4.07 minutes. Spain has quite a formidable team in its ranks, but sad to say, I have to make this "death blow" of sorts short and very brutally sweet. Sorry about this, Luis._

She looked over at her team's dugout. Selenay was cheering her on; Kikka was still being hugged by Selenay, her eyes thin little slits with wavy tears pouring out in torrents; Ralf was just quiet; Giancarlo was scoping out the girls in the audience; Oliver was blinking; Medain and Shizue were still SD, a black cloud hovering above their heads; and Johnny was staring somewhere at the audience, his eyes narrowed. Cerridwen blinked, then followed his gaze.

She saw the BBA Team seated a few tiers above the main battle dish, and they were quite a circus in itself as well: Takao was inexplicably quiet, Max was blinking, Professor was furiously typing away at his laptop, Kai had a very haunted look on his face, Yuri was mumbling something, and the pink haired girl Kikka was angry about was talking to Lei.

Lei...

Cerridwen felt her heart suddenly jump for no apparent reason at all. She knew he wasn't him, but her heart was kind of hoping he was. She knew it was foolish, that Lei Kon was another person entirely, and she knew she had to stop herself from thinking that way or else she would only hurt herself. But it was too hard...

"Would both Bladers come forward?" DJ was saying a little while later.

"..." Cerridwen was just quiet, still looking at him. DJ blinked, then looked over to where Cerridwen was standing, still looking at Lei. Luis frowned. "Hey, are you zoning out on me, senorita?! We still have a match to finish!"

"H-huh....?" Cerridwen blinked.

"Uh...Miss Ascot-Elridge, are YOU alright...?" DJ was asking her.

"O-oh!" SD Cerridwen nodded, blushing furiously. "R-right! Sorry...so sorry about that...I...was just thinking of something...heh heh..."

"Are you sure you can continue on with the match, Miss Ascot-Elridge...?"

"Y-yes! Sorry, Mr. DJ..."

"Well, in that case...let's get this ball ROLLING!!! BLADERS, TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!!!"

Cerridwen aimed her Shooter at the battle dish, her expressive mint green eyes narrowed and set. _Concentrate...what am I thinking! I mustn't let that get in my way..._

Luis smirked. "Heh. Guess the ONLY way to defeat you is to make sure you'll NEVER be able to even fight back against me. Alright senorita, you're going DOWN!!!" He aimed his own Shooter at the battle dish. "This would be the last time you're seeing this stadium, and I'm going to make SURE you'll never be able to set foot on ANOTHER!!!"

"This is no time for idle banter...it is YOU who shall have need of that warning, not I." Cerridwen's eyes narrowed even further. "You'll regret this day when you foolishly chose to take light of ME!!!"

"ALRIGHT!!! 3...2...1...**GOOOOOO....SSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTT!!!**"

Crescendo shot like a speeding comet from Cerridwen's Shooter, hurtling straight towards Wyvern. Luis' eyes narrowed. "HAH!!! I KNEW you'd do THAT!!! Come on, partner, we'll show this bimbo a one way ticket out of this competition!!! WYVERN!!! **_METEO FURROW!!!_**"

The -Holy Beast- appeared, screeching in all its fury. A furious cyclone of fire surrounded the Bey Blade and shot towards Crescendo at the speed of a hurtling meteor. Takao's eyes widened, as he stood up, blinking. "What the HELL...what kind of attack was THAT?! Crescendo's TOAST!!!"

Wyvern hit its target, creating a huge explosion near where Cerridwen stood, sending shards of the broken battle dish flying in that area. DJ raised an arm to shield himself from the shards, and the audience let out a collective groan and gasps of surprise at what had just transpired barely a few seconds ago. Yuri clenched his fists, and he was worried sick about the young girl, while Kai was just staring at the battle dish; Max's eyes went wide, and Professor was beside himself, short of jumping into the battle dish with his laptop in tow. "NOO!!! IT CAN'T BE!!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING" he yelled. "**CERRIDWEN**"

SD Mao reached out and grabbed him by his belt, a million sweatdrop explosions about her head. "What the HECK do you think you're DOING?! PROFESSOR!!! **GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!!!**" she yelled, her teeth miniscule fangs.

Lei stood up almost immediately, his gold amber eyes wide. That attack...nobody could've avoided that almost head-on collision...what was that Luis thinking...people could get seriously HURT...

Huge billowing clouds of smoke and flying debris filled that certain battle dish area, and DJ was alarmed that Cerridwen, having been almost struck point blank by a speeding Bey Blade at roughly 120 kph, was seriously hurt. He gripped the safety rails of his floating platform (;;). "Oh NO!!! What a very DEVASTATING attack from Luis Santillan...he wasn't called the Speeding Flame Devil for NOTHING!!! But...it seems that his Bey Blade has somehow come SHORT of Cerridwen Ascot-Elridge from the Wing Blades TEAM!!! And there are no signs of Crescendo ANYWHERE..."

"Heh. Idiot. You really thought something like that could bring Cerridwen down...?" Johnny's eyes narrowed. "She wasn't called the Angel Reaper for NOTHING..."

A strange breeze blew, along with it, several scattered glowing feathers. Cerridwen just stood there, the strange breeze making fine strands of her fiery hair play across her face, her face devoid of any emotion.

"..." A small, faint smile then appeared on Cerridwen's lips as she gazed at Luis. Her eyes were closed happily. "That was QUITE a surprise to say the least, and I am most impressed. But I am afraid THIS is where it all ends, Mr. Santillan. You should've taken your own threat to heart."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Luis asked, gritting his teeth.

DJ blinked, then pointed upwards. "Either my eyes are deceiving me, or that IS Crescendo soaring high up in the AIR!!! When did it manage to dodge that ferocious ATTACK from Wyvern is WAY beyond ME...but...HOLY COW!!! Is Crescendo coming down for its FINAL ATTACK?!"

Luis looked up, his eyes widening. For a while, it seemed, Crescendo indeed was floating and soaring way up in the air. Then it decides to dive towards the still spinning Wyvern on the hole it just created on the battle dish.

Ralf's eyes narrowed. "Checkmate."

"Of all the stereotypical things I abhor people say when referring to ME in particular is being called a BIMBO. And called useless and weak! Let me teach you the value of humility, Mr. Santillan, and I'll make you fall off your high horse for being the narrow-minded braggart you ARE!!!" Cerridwen swipes her arm, the glowing feathers scattering in a flurry. "CRESCENDO!!! _**REQUIEM!!!**_"

The central bit glowed, and the cat-dog (;;) -Holy Beast- sprung out again. A very intricate-looking sigil with flowing Hebrew script and 8 tinier seals all around the stained glass central one of the -Holy Beast- itself appeared beneath Wyvern, holding it fast; the Bey Blade wasn't able to move anywhere except dead-center of the central seal. Luis' eyes widened. "WYVERN!!!"

Luis' fiery -Holy Beast- screeched, trying to get away from the strange seal, but as was said earlier, it was rendered immobile. Tall pillars of different-colored light shot out from the tinier seals, as the entire backdrop of the battle suddenly turned inky black. Crescendo shot towards the helpless Bey Blade, the -Holy Beast- roaring for all its worth; it was surrounded by a brilliant white light which made onlookers cover their eyes then hurled itself towards Wyvern, as a loud booming noise was heard all throughout the stadium.

Max, Professor, Takao, Kai, Yuri and Mao forgot all their previous theatrics and stared at the battle dish in disbelief, their mouths small O's; Lei's gold amber eyes becoming wide and blank. A subliminal shot of Wyvern and Crescendo appeared in their mind's eye, so vivid it was they were all shocked out of their wits...Crescendo was biting Wyvern's neck and ripping through him with his claws as a furious cyclone of glowing purest white feathers scattered about in a flurry.

Wyvern was hurled out of the battle dish and stuck itself into DJ's floating platform; Luis could only follow it with his eyes, speechless and shocked. The force was so powerful it nearly knocked DJ off his feet; he only managed to reach out and grab onto the railings before he fell.

There was a deathly silence that followed. Cerridwen tossed her fiery hair over her shoulder, blown helter-skelter as it was with the winds that battered the battle dish earlier, then fixed her mint green gaze upon DJ, who was now shakily getting up to his feet. The announcer looked over the railings to see what happened to Wyvern; then, seeing it stuck beneath him, he looked over to where Crescendo was and amazingly enough, it was still spinning by itself right in that hole Wyvern created a while ago, spinning without a care in the world.

DJ swiped his left arm in the air. "Since Wyvern is well WAY out of the Blading range and thrown out of the battle dish...the winner, of this match..."

Wyvern cracked, then fell in pieces to the floor.

DJ blinked, then nodded. "Uh...as I was saying...the winner in this match...which gives them 2 points in their bid for their Zero Pre-Finals tourney...is **CERRIDWEN ASCOT-ELRIDGE, FOR THE WING BLADES!!!**"

The stadium, which was deathly quiet a while ago, now exploded with thunderous applause for the young girl, as there were also scattered cat calls and shrill whistles coming from the male part of the audience.

Professor was then waving his arms over his head in jubilation, tears pouring out in torrents from his eyes, as he cheered for Cerridwen. "CERRIDWEN!!! YEAH!!! I KNOW YOU'LL MAKE IT I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO WIN"

"**OUCH!!!**"

SD Professor got his laptop from the man sitting in front of him, to which he dropped his laptop on top of his head while cheering for Cerridwen, then resumed his cheering. "**CERRIDWEN!!!**"

"Wow!" SD Max whistled. "I can SEE why the Wing Blades are a clear favorite in winning the tourney..."

SD Takao was miserably torn between defending their own team and giving a compliment on how well Cerridwen did for her team and the bane of his existence, the Wing Blades.

"They're not just a bunch of bimbos. I can also see clearly why Yuri has every reason to fear them." Kai looked over at Yuri, who was looking down at Cerridwen as she waved to the audience, her eyes closed happily as she did so. His red brown eyes narrowed. "Isn't it so, Yuri...?"

"..." Yuri gave a small nod. "THAT'S the team we're going up against. Now you know why Mr. Daitenji was adamant in making me join the BBA Team, Hiwatari. He knew it would come to this."

Kai's eyes narrowed even further. "So you think you're God's gift to the BBA, Ivanov...?"

"It's not as if I'm putting you all down on this, Hiwatari, as you've defeated us in the Russian Finals...as you ought to remember. Mr. Daitenji just wants you to succeed in this, as they're going to be our toughest opponents yet." Yuri looked over at Kai, his ice blue eyes cold and narrowed. "This is just one of Saint Dranzer's warnings, yes...? Those people who invited you over in this tourney knew of your potential as a team, that was why Saint Dranzer took flight. Did you honestly think I decided to join the BBA just because I'm BORED, Hiwatari...?"

Kai was just quiet. He turned to face the battle dish "I just want to know why Mr. Daitenji agreed to this. I don't want to think of him using us as his pawns. It's clear that he's not that kind of man...although, his friendship with that of the Abbey's 'Mother Superior' leaves much to be desired. It's very clear that we weren't just dragged here to Bey Blade."

Cerridwen then knelt and caught her spinning Bey Blade as it spun towards her. She looked over at Luis, who was still very shocked as he picked up the bits and pieces of what was left of his Bey Blade.

"Well, I DID say that I'm going to make this match short and very brutally sweet. But I was a little harsh on him." Cerridwen blinked. "OK, a little TOO harsh. I'll just offer my services in fixing his Bey Blade, then..."

She walked towards Team Spain's dugout. Both Selenay and Kikka turned SD, their eyes widely circular. "Don't tell ME she's going to do what I THINK she's going to DO?" SD Selenay asked, her eyes little beads.

SD Kikka blinked. "I think she's going to do what SHE'S about to do, Selenay."

"Oh for heaven's sake..." Medain forgot her mini-standoff with Shizue then stood up, glaring over at where Cerridwen was headed. "HEY!!! ELRIDGE!!! What do you THINK you're DOING?!"

SD Shizue started to twitch. "You really can't blame her, Medain, she's just too damn nice...you keep forgetting even Lady Celes has given up on her a long time ago..." she muttered, her arms crossed over her chest and her forehead exhibiting little spasms.

SD Medain held her hand to her forehead. "It's the reason WHY Ivanov became remotely human in the first place...sheesh, doesn't she even think about her status and privilege being a Guild Master at ALL?!"

SD Kikka blinked at the both of them. "Hey, is being nice THAT evil...? It's not as if Cerridwen's asking for royalties, as she's a Guild Master...she's in it just because she LOVES Bey Blading...she and Arthur Lancaster both..."

"And they're the BANE of the entire Guild Master GUILD'S existence." SD Medain looked really sick. "I think I need an aspirin..."

DJ blinked. "Well, after that VERY action-filled second Bey match...it's time for the next Bladers to strut their stuff!!! Would the next Bladers please step FORWARD!!!"

Shizue rolled her eyes, then stood up, frowning over at the battle dish. "It's no wonder why Cerridwen's becoming very confused...we're supposed to be the bane of every Bey Blader's existence, and there she goes, undoing all the destruction we caused. She's too nice to be a Wing Blade."

"Maybe it's why Lady Celes handpicked her from those hopefuls in the first place, and why Crescendo chose her to become his new mistress. It's for us not to lose our focus," Selenay said thoughtfully. She then sweatdropped. "Although, her kindness becomes a little too much sometimes..."

"Damn right you are..." SD Medain said with a murderous glare right over at Cerridwen.

Oliver blinked. "We keep forgetting we're in the lair of the world's iciest Bey Bladers right next to the Balkov Monastery's emotionless soldiers..."

"And they just happen to be beautiful young ladies." SD Giancarlo grinned then draped his arm over SD Medain. "I could thaw you right over, Countess Summer, and we'll both be sharing beautiful nights for the rest of our lives in each others' arms..."

SD Medain gave him a corkscrew punch to the jaw. "**SHRIVEL UP AND DIE, DONATORE!!!**"

Shizue then stepped right into the periphery of the Bey arena, coming up just as a new battle dish was slowly and automatically being fitted into place. Maria Santillan was glaring right at Shizue, her maroon eyes narrowed and set. "I don't know what you girls are playing at, but I'm going to make sure you're all going to pay for THIS!!!"

"Yeah, whatever." Shizue made a show of yawning, patting her hand daintily against her mouth. She then languidly looked over to where Maria was standing. "You say you're going to provide me with entertainment...? Then I'm looking forward to it. I'm getting really bored dreadfully fast."

"Why YOU"

"Alright Bladers, take your POSITIONS!!!" DJ was saying. "Are you READY?!"

"Perseides is going to take YOU DOWN!!!" Maria yelled.

"Make sure you make quick work of me, or I'll be sorely disappointed," Shizue said as she fitted Falcrest into her Shooter: it was an icy blue with unfurled falcon's wings in flight at the sides. She smiled, her lovely gray eyes becoming icy shards of silver. "Think you could hack it...?"

"3...2...1...**GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....SSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTT!!!**"

Mr. Daitenji was slowly making his way towards the stadium. And from the noise he heard coming from inside the arena, he knew it was perfectly clear that a great match was happening right there and then, and he knew the boys were enjoying it tremendously. He had no regrets taking them one step further. It had been a long time since the Japanese Regional Bey Blade Championships, and the BBA Team has come a long way...he was always amazed as how they've all matured and became even much better with each battle they've faced. Meeting up with the world's most powerful teams definitely whipped them into shape, and they all have learned to trust in each other's skills and played each other's strengths as they surpassed each hurdle with flying colors. They were the best talents he had ever seen since that Zero Finals Bey Blade World Championships 20 years ago, when the original Wing Blades squared off against the original members of the Balkov Monastery Bey Blade Team...and now, by winning the Russian Finals, the BBA Team helped Bey Blading become an even more popular sport than before. Mr. Daitenji smiled ruefully. It was high time to give them a shot at big time Bey Blade...it was time to get rough, and time to play Bey Blade like all the big boys do. It's not just another pastime anymore. This was what he had all prepared them for.

Mr. Daitenji then made a turn right into the stadium's entrance. He blinked. Surely, he wasn't imagining things...?

But no. The entire stadium looked as if it was a scene from somewhere in the furthest regions of the Arctic Circle, on the topmost part of the world: everything, everyone, was covered in ice.

DJ's teeth was chattering as he tried gripping his microphone, his hand going numb as it was from the tiny icicles that had sprung from it. "H-h-how the h-heck did i-i-i-it suddenly g-get so F-F-F-FREEZING in H-H-H-HERE?! A-another devastating a-a-a-attack from S-Shizue, and s-she's showing NO s-s-s-signs of l-letting UP!!! Cripes, i-is she the one r-r-r-responsible for this s-sudden ICE AGE?!"

Maria held her arms closer to her body as she looked right over at Shizue, who was just standing there with a very bored look on her face. Maria gritted her teeth. "You F-F-F-FRIGGING ICE Q-QUEEN!!! Who t-t-t-the HECK do y-you think Y-Y-Y-YOU ARE?! Don't you P-P-P-PLAY with M-ME!!!"

"Hey, it's NOT my fault if you're just a tad bit too amateurish for this tourney, senorita." SD Shizue yawned again, this time having small beads of moisture at the corners of her eyes. "Oh MAN, I'm SO bored. Was that the best thing you ever DID already?!"

SD Max gripped his arms about him tighter, several sweatdrop explosions about his head. "W-W-What on E-E-E-EARTH is S-SHE, some F-F-FRIGGING I-ICE POPSICLE?! WHY T-T-THE H-HECK isn't SHE A-A-AFFECTED by this ICE STORM?!"

SD Takao sweatdropped, his teeth chattering. "N-n-n-no, Max, she's j-just the frigging A-A-Abominable S-S-S-Snowman."

"D-D-Damn, she makes Y-Y-Yuri's iceberg a-attack f-feel like a g-g-gentle summer b-b-b-breeze," SD Max said through chattering teeth.

Ralf was watching Shizue's match with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"My, Lady Tsukigata's VERY bored today," Ralf mused. "Honestly, I haven't seen Falcrest's Arctic antics since Oliver's otherwise poor attempt on _ozouni_ the other New Year's Day."

SD Oliver sweatdropped. "How was I supposed to know she prefers it WITHOUT vegetables...?"

Shizue yawned for the third time, then swipes her arm in a diagonal manner in front of her. "Well, since you've entertained me quite more than the average, I guess I have to repay your kindness for your...very thoughtful consideration. Frankly, my dear, I think you should go back to Bey Blade preschool, that was QUITE a joke, if I do say so myself...as I was HIGHLY amused."

Maria glared at her. "D-D-D-DON'T you L-LOOK down o-o-o-on M-M-ME!!! I'll m-make you E-E-E-EAT those W-W-W-WORDS"

"Like you've said for the last 17 times already...**_yeah_**." Shizue sighed then crossed her arms over her chest. "Falcrest, what do you think?"

Shizue's -Holy Beast-, an ice falcon, gave a resounding screech as it glared right at Perseides at the other end of the battle dish, wobbling dangerously at the edge.

"As I've thought so." Shizue's eyes narrowed. "It's the end of the road for you, dearie. Don't you worry though, I'll make sure I'll advertise your amusing antics to the other Bey Bladers out there...I'm sure they'll have their own fun with you. Falcrest...**_ICE BOLT!!!_**"

Falcrest the ice falcon -Holy Beast- screeched anew, sending a volley of deadly ice shafts towards Perseides with one flap of his great wings. The ice arrows froze everything it touched in its path of destruction, and several of these deadly bolts hit the Bey Blade with unnerving precision. Its -Holy Beast-, a barracuda, got frozen over with the devastating ice attack and the Bey Blade got thrown out of the battle dish, frozen neatly with glinting crystal ice.

Maria stared after it in disbelief. DJ was quiet for a few seconds as well as he stared after the frozen Bey Blade before the cameraman waved at him again to get his attention. He blinked, then swipes his left arm in the air. "T-the winner of this m-m-match...and assured a s-sure slot up the t-t-t-tourney rankings respectively...is S-Shizue Tsukigata for the **W-W-WING B-BLADES!!!**" he yells.

The audience erupted into thunderous applause. Shizue caught her spinning Bey Blade with one hand and, with a still bored look on her face, returned to her team's dugout. The ice suddenly vanished as mysteriously as it had come when Falcrest returned to its mistress, and left some of the spectators awestruck.

SD Max's eyes were little beads. "She's making me THINK that ice storm she conjured is nothing but a figment of our own imaginations..."

SD Professor's glasses tilted on top of his head. "Yuri, how the HECK did you all manage to survive the Wing Blades?!"

"Damn devil's luck," Yuri answered unflappably, still looking over at the battle dish. Kai broke into cold sweat.

_We're going against those girls...?! How the hell...battling Team Russia was hell enough by itself, what more with THEM..._

He saw Ana smiling benignly in his mind's eye, and he became even more frightened.

_She KNEW about this all along...she knew I would be seeking power...and this is what I get. A slot at the Zero Pre-Finals. SHIT._

He saw Selenay walk over to where Shizue was, and his eyes narrowed. _Damn it. I mustn't let myself panic...no way am I going to use the Black Dranzer...no frigging WAY..._

Selenay met Shizue halfway, still holding SD Kikka in her arms and turned SD, her eyes closed happily. "That was quite a joyride, if I do say so myself, Shizue! That served that team RIGHT!"

"Yeah, whatever." Shizue was still looking bored. "Damn, and I thought I wasn't going to get BORED."

"Uh...and that concludes our action-filled opening match between the Wing Blades and Team SPAIN!!! I could definitely SEE why the Wing Blades are clear favorites in winning the Zero Pre-Finals Tournament...these girls are kicking serious butt, and are clearly not a bunch of pushovers at all...!!! WOW, and this is just the opening SALVO!!! I really can't wait for the upcoming battles...at the rate things are going, this is going to be the BEST Zero Pre-Finals YET!!!" DJ swipes his arm in the air. "And without much further ado (adieu?! Oo;;), I bring you the next teams up for action...Team Korea and Team IRELAND!!! **Are you guys READY TO RIP IT?!**"

The audience's roar was clear enough.

"That second match was WAY boring, if I do say so myself," Shizue was muttering as they made their way out the arena, as there was a recess before the upcoming third match, involving Team Brazil and the BBA Team. "Aside from giving the entire stadium a thoroughly needed makeover, there aren't enough scene stealers left to even warm up my buttered toast."

"Well, you have got to admit, those -Holy Beasts- those guys were using were astounding enough, to say the very least," Giancarlo said, nodding. He shuddered. "I didn't think I'd be seeing that MacKenzie idiot in this tourney, I thought his chimera ran out on him or something..."

"And I'm pretty SURE you've had lots of new friends after that match was over, Cerridwen," Medain growled. "Didn't take you 3 seconds to actually run up to those morons and offered to help them with their destroyed Bey Blades."

"W-well, it's the least I could do...I mean, their Bey Blades were beyond repair..." Cerridwen began.

"And ordinary Bey techs could've made even more serious damage than help to their owners, yeah. It was Guild Master level." Shizue shook her head. "When will you EVER learn that we're waging a battle in here, Cerridwen?! We're not here to come help those idiots and cry over their own spilled milk. If they can't repair their own Bey Blades, then let them worry about it! You're basically in this tourney to help us with our OWN problems, and not solve the problems of OTHERS. You really don't need to be damn nice to just about everybody..."

"Hey, hey! Come ON, it's finished ALREADY, and why don't we all get a needed BREAK?" Selenay said, clapping her hands to get their attention. "It's not Cerridwen's fault she's just too nice, so let's just forget about that and worry about our own hides for now. The BBA Team's up next, right...? And as what Kikka's been telling me, they're quite a handful more than what we expected..."

"The only other guy worth mentioning aside from Yuri is that guy you danced with, Selenay. Other than those 2, those left are not even worth so-so." Medain waved her hand in front of her face. "And that Arthur Lancaster look-alike was a let-down."

"No, he WASN'T!" SD Kikka protested vehemently. "He was GOOD! That pimply guy he was going up against then was just plain CHEAP and EVIL!!!"

"And we can expect no less from the leader of the White Tiger Clan," Ralf seconded his cousin. "He actually makes up one of the hard-hitters of that team...he and Kai Hiwatari, both. As for Takao Kinogu...he just has the damn devil's luck in everything he does."

Selenay blinked. "Hey, but wasn't he the one who defeated YURI?!"

"He has really questionable Bey Blade battle tactics and he doesn't even think about what he's doing, and he still needs the support of his friends to keep him focused on the match," Oliver said, nodding and wagging his finger. "A scatterbrained tactician, if ever there was such. But I have to admit that he's a GOOD scatterbrain."

"And noisy, too," Johnny put in. "VERY noisy."

"It's what endeared him to YOU, isn't it right, Medain...?" SD Shizue slyly commented.

"Shut UP, Tsukigata..."

"As for Max...he's the tactician of the group, weighing all his other options carefully before launching his Bey Blade into the Bey stadium. He works quietly." Ralf nodded. "And even if it's that hard to admit it, yes, they're just about the strongest Bey Blade team we've ever faced. Those -Holy Beasts- of theirs..."

Kikka bit her lip. "Come to think of it, Lady Celes did mention something about their -Holy Beasts-..."

"I don't give a DAMN even if they manage to tame a 50 foot Godzilla to fit in their Bey Blades. It's NOT as if they could get past US. Besides, inviting those retards here was just a BIG mistake. Why Lady Celes bothered to invite them here is just WAY beyond me." Medain frowned. "And I REALLY still can't get over that fact that they managed to defeat Team Russia and became frigging CHAMPIONS!!!"

"And I've been REALLY wondering how the heck you could STILL manage to spring your Bey Blade for a full charge attack with that huge head of yours getting in the way of your Shooter range," Takao snapped from right behind her, his forehead exhibiting little spasms.

The Wing Blades and Team Europe all turned to look. Sure enough, the BBA Team was right behind them, Takao in the lead, his arms crossed over his chest. He was still glaring at Medain. "Listen here, you flatchested tomboy, I'm NOT about to run from such a bigheaded brat like you. Your skills aren't up to par with MINE. So shove that thought right through that big empty head of YOURS!!!"

"F-flatchested....?!" SD Medain sprouted several gargantuan twitches on her head, then rounded up on Takao, becoming a huge fire-breathing ogre in the process. "Listen here you punched up little BRAT, I'm going to make SURE that your BEY BLADE'S going to EAT SOLEIDES' DUST!!! **AND NOBODY CALLS ME EMPTY HEADED!!!**"

SD Max sweatdropped. "Very amiable young lady, isn't she..."

Shizue frowned, her eyes narrowed. "I really can't see the logic behind you joining up with THEM, Ivanov. Have you really stooped down THAT low as to even BE with them...?"

SD Mao twitched. "And who's asking for YOUR opinion, you stuck up WITCH? Just BECAUSE you've won your first match doesn't MEAN you're already that UNTOUCHABLE!!!"

Giancarlo tried pacifying the now short of murderous groups. "Hey, hey, people, lay off the INSULTS, if you PLEASE? If you have to insult each other, THERE'S the Bey stadium..."

Shizue twitched. "And WHO was that one who managed to get her girly Bey Blade destroyed in the process for sticking her horridly pink head into other people's BUSINESS...?"

SD Mao's eyes became devilish little slits. "LEI'S business is MY BUSINESS!!!"

"..." SD Medain's eyes were thrown into shadow. "Funny, I DIDN'T ask your boyfriend to make a fool of himself...I asked YOU."

SD Mao rounded on her, her forehead exhibiting zillions of gargantuan twitches. "**AND YOU WERE ASKING FOR IT!!!**"

SD Lei's eyes became little beads. Ralf was holding his hand to his face. "Sometimes, there comes a point when their noble upbringing and rabid temperaments clash and the fine line between them is absolutely BLURRED..." he muttered.

There was a resounding clap of thunder, and soon enough, rain poured outside the arena in sheets.

"Somebody couldn't agree with you more, Jurgen." Johnny sighed, then looked disgruntled. "Geez, I've forgotten how Shizue and Medain become absolute war freak zealots concerning insult fests..."

SD Kai was frowning cutely. "And so he saves himself the LIBERTY of having someone else call him as SUCH," he muttered.

SD Johnny then had a very huge black aura hovering ominously about his person. "And what was THAT, Hiwatari...?"

Oliver sweatdropped. "And so I think we all ought to run for cover."

Giancarlo sweatdropped as well. "Problem is, where the hell are we supposed to run...?"

"..." Cerridwen was just looking at Lei, who was now trying to hold Takao back (along with Max and Professor) and prevent him from leaping at Medain. Medain was held back by Selenay and Kikka, millions of sweatdrop explosions about their heads. All of the mayhem sort of faded into the background, as she held her laptop closer to her chest and her eyes became expressive as she gazed at Lei.

_But...would you even see me...Lei...?_

The sound of the pouring rain was answer enough.

****

****

**---------------------------------------**

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Eep, it's really hard fighting your own ghosts. Cerridwen must really get over the fact that Lei ONLY looks like Arthur, and he ISN'T him, FAST. Somebody hit her with a mallet, QUICK!!! Poor Yuri. Now he REALLY has to compete with a GHOST.


	16. Saint and Sinner

Saint and Sinner

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** AAAACCCKKK! Reports and Finals COMING! So sorry about long updates...I really am! Watched Naruto Episodes 85-88. I only have one gripe about Uchiha Itachi. Why does he have such a RIDICULOUSLY low voice in the Japanese version...! He and his younger brother both, whereas Uzumaki Naruto has such an otherwise...feminine voice. What GIVES! Oo;; I KNOW Itachi's voice from somewhere...anyway, the Bey Blade bluebloods get their fill of exquisite carnivore dining with Selenay screaming shrilly in the background, Johnny resenting Lei's existence, Max going on sugar-high, and Kai questioning his reason for existence. Professor notes that this competition is WAY different from any other competition they have faced for the fact that all combatants here have their OWN -Holy Beast- each. Who could've known that there are many such -Holy Beasts- in existence...? What does Takao's father have to do with all of this? Questions, and more questions. R/R PLEASE!

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Bey Blade and all its characters, I only own some of the OC's portrayed herein, and some other OC's are owned by their respective authors (to which I have permission to use them here). So no SUING!

**-**

"We'll have those grilled stuffed squid kebabs, garlic pork, chili chicken wings, hunter's salad, cheese chops, seafood carbonara, deviled rice, honey ribs, drunken shrimp puffs, beef rolls and a bunch of Pan's Pipes deluxe" Giancarlo was reciting in monotone to a uniformed waiter. "And 3 pink iced teas, 2 cloud floats, a Cherry Coke, 2 Four Seasons and a melon shake. For dessert we'll have the fruit dips, 3 chocolate fudgenut blasts, a banana parfait, 2 blueberry cheesecake slices and 3 slices of Food for the Gods."

The waiter jotted all of these down on his notepad. "Would that be all, sir"

"Make the iced teas bottomless" Shizue put in. "And make sure the chocolate's all crumbly and absolutely perfect."

"Yes, madam. Anything else"

"That would be all."

The waiter got their menus and went off to relay their orders to the chef. Medain sighed then leaned back against the pouf, her arms under her head. "Well, I guess that's ALL taken cared of, then."

"Can we hit the chocolate bar after this" Kikka asked. "They've ACTUALLY taken cared of the white chocolate problem, and I've been missing that for AGES"

"Yes, definitely." Oliver blinked. "I NEVER really did understand why Greece HAS that white chocolate fix, instead of other chocolate bars in France, Italy, or London, for that matter. But I must admit it did wonders for the tourist industry...chocolate fanatics searching for the ultimate white chocolate fix come here from round the world over, in addition to those people who came here for that certain enriching Homeric or whatever experience."

"Chocolate actually makes kids out of the adults, themselves." Shizue blinked. "Hey, Selenay, are you alright? You look a little green."

"**I HATE YOU SUMMER!** You've got all of THIS ALL planned out, and you made sure there AREN'T any vegetarian meals on the MENU before you made this RESERVATION" SD Selenay was on the verge of bursting into tears. "Do you hate me that **BAD**"

Medain looked at her with the very innocent look of mild surprise on her face. "Why Selenay, such accusations you make! The reason I had chosen this particular restaurant is because of its fusion cuisine. I'm actually planning to branch out our family business, so to speak, with new dishes introduced in its repertoire, fusion dishes - Eastern, Western, Southern, Northern - alongside our family restaurant's resident aces in keeping those customers coming back for MORE. I am doing this out of research and I am NOT doing this just to spite you. I honestly didn't **KNOW** they didn't have any vegetarian meals on their menu."

"That, plus the fact that those Pan's Pipes are simply DIVINE, and their seafood carbonara rivals even those made by genuine Italians on a seafood diet" Giancarlo put in. "And those cheese chops. I never could do that with ordinary Cheez Whiz."

"But this is not a hopelessly carnivorous affair, Lady Herrault...there IS that hunter's salad" Ralf told her. "Tossed with pure virgin olive oil."

"It would've been JUST alright, except that salad has cut up chicken, pork, and ground beef all tossed in with the onions, herbed mushrooms, cheese, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and white pepper and CROUTONS" SD Selenay started waving her arms frantically over her head. "That's UTTERLY REVOLTING! The freshness of those VEGETABLES sabotaged with those hateful pieces of MEAT! TAINTING THEM WITH THOSE AWFUL TASTES! **AND THOSE FATS!** AND OILS! AND PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING ELSE"

"God, Selenay, it's not as if we killed those poor chickens, pigs and cows and laugh while we sate ourselves with their quivering flesh or something" SD Shizue told her, her eyes little slits. "We're not a bunch of frigging bloodthirsty cannibals you're making us all out to BE."

"You do KNOW very well I'm VEGETARIAN and I absolutely DETEST eating ANYTHING made out of animal SUBSTANCES and using or wearing ANYTHING like those as WELL" SD Selenay was shaking her head. "That's why I don't go for leather goods, and fur coats, and feather boas"

"Your Marks and Spencer's made of WOOL" Medain commented slyly.

"But at LEAST they're not tortured when those farmers shear the wool off of THEM! Or shut up in pens, or stuffed in inhumane conditions before being cut up and what else"

"For one, Selenay, the farmers ARE very careful with those wool shears or whatever because if the sheep in question's quite frisky, things would get real BLOODY, and two, those animals are not even human to begin with as to treat them like they're real people when they're NOT. No offense meant...yes, I KNOW they're stuffed like sardines in a can and situations ARE as nasty as they come but it's not as if we're on to every single animal on the planet for our own personal enjoyment" Johnny told her. "OK"

"AND before this escalates into a Greenpeace affair, here come our drinks" Ralf said, nodding, as Selenay opened her mouth to say something else. "It is very unfortunate that this restaurant doesn't have any available vegetarian meal on their menu, and this is the only restaurant available for our erstwhile tortured palates, as all other restaurants are fully booked because of the tourists and the competitors in this tourney, enjoying their stay as tourists and as gourmands, alike. Greece has never had a tourist surge like this for ages, what with those exotic Eastern excursions and whatnot. You could try the seafood carbonara, it's not as hopelessly carnivorous as you think, as they weren't shot, stabbed, or mangled beyond recognition just to arrive at your dinner plate. That would be the best alternative now, right"

SD Selenay was just quiet.

Their drinks arrived shortly, and Selenay was just very quiet as she took a tiny sip of her Four Seasons as the rest of them talked about Oliver's new recipe, Shizue's new ideas for her bedroom draperies, and and Giancarlo's cousin's regatta. Medain was quietly sipping her pink iced tea then sighed. She looked over at Selenay. "Look, Selenay, that was uncalled for, but really, I have NO idea they didn't serve vegetarian meals in this restaurant. Sorry. So please don't get mad at me."

"I'm not MAD." Selenay took another tiny sip of her Four Seasons, a small frown on her face. "I just wish I didn't see how those stuffy old wine barons maul an innocent fox on one of their horrid hunts back when Papa took me out on my first and LAST hunting trip ever when I was 9. So then I would be blissfully unaware of the fact that what we are going to eat right now didn't come at the expense of all that violence just to get them sitting nicely on our plates."

"Well...I'm pretty sure those butchers didn't hit them over their heads with 500 ton mallets or something. And besides, it's not like you're going to be condemned by eating just a little bit of those."

"Just this ONCE I'm going to eat seafood. And that would be the end of it." Selenay looked around. "Where did Cerridwen run off to"

"I think she ran off to the nearest vegetarian bar when she realized a while ago that you're going to be in GREAT distress" Shizue told her. "And I think that aforementioned overcrowded vegetarian bar's somewhere at the other end of the world."

"She DID" Selenay felt absolutely horrible. "But...I...she didn't HAVE to! I really..."

"Just kidding. Her dearest mum's on the telephone, and couldn't really bear to part with her darling daughter THAT long" Shizue replied. "They've been talking for, like, AGES already. Well, it's no big deal, since her mum owns about 40 of that telephone company's shares. They could talk for a whole month for all I care."

Selenay blinked. "You mean they've been talking on the phone ever since we GOT here 3 hours AGO"

"The phone rang just as we entered the mall an hour ago" Medain told her, sipping her pink iced tea. "Nobody told us that even valet parking in this restaurant had to be reserved beforehand, it's this popular. Good thing the Duke of Verlaine (BTW I'm just making this UP!) decided to bolt for the Swiss Alps the last minute."

Selenay turned SD. "You DON'T say"

"Oh." Medain blinked, as well. "Yeah, I remember. He's that old guy with that rather clingy son, isn't he? Mother told me that the son in question has such a rather horrifying habit of horsing around in the innermost circles of French aristocrats, having women like he's just having several changers of his under drawers. His latest addiction is that 'well-moneyed and old-titled lass from the wine country down Loire Valley'. Gee, I wonder who she is"

Selenay turned even more minute. "And I DON'T like the attention he's been giving me so far. He comes off as an insult to Jerry Maguire. You know, that 'you complete ME' bit! God, I didn't think I could hear something like THAT from a guy and barf. It was HORRIBLE! And the evil thing about it is that Maman is considering THAT pox from hell's backside, butchered Shakespeare, Wordsworth, and Tennyson be damned."

Shizue turned SD. "Isn't THAT a little too MEDIEVAL! I didn't think pre-teen arranged MARRIAGES are still acceptable in this day and age."

"Hey, if you think that's appalling, get a load of MacGregor" Giancarlo said through his cloud float. "His grandmother had been thinking of having him engaged on his 9th birthday."

Johnny coughed into his Cherry Coke.

"Now that's SOMETHING we don't know anything about." Medain looked over at Johnny with interest. "What happened? I didn't think there'd be ANYTHING which would hinder the pint-sized wedding of the century...your family could truss the entire Westminster Abbey up in ribbons and the Queen of England would say naught of it..."

"It was just too bloody early, SEE? My dad put his foot down, he wanted me up for Eton and St. Andrew's, and join the military. Isn't that the sort of thing aristocratic male children are expected to do before thinking of settling down with a proper and well-bred young lady to continue the family line with! And I REALLY thank him for that, Grandmother was literally pushing me off to marry a Mountbatten. Somebody decently close to the Windsor line." Johnny gulped down a glass of water. He then shook his head. "Geez, it's as if I'm doing the 100 meter dash or something...to catch myself a bride, that is."

"Cerridwen's the only girl I know with a bloodline very decently close to that of the Mountbattens, one way or the other" Medain said. "Why didn't your Grandmother think of pushing you towards Cerridwen"

"It's just that she's certified, duly-approved, and 100 pure Lancastrian material. Aunt Margot has expressed her intention of marrying Cerridwen into the House of Lancaster, their York-Tudor lineage be damned." Johnny had such a pained expression on his face. "To which I'm all FOR."

"So. That was WHY you were giving Lei Kon death glares a while ago." Shizue sipped at her melon shake. "Hey, he's NOT a Lancastrian by a long shot. It's just a very unforgiving coincidence that he just happened to look like ONE."

"Or HIM, for that matter." Medain gave Johnny a pat on the back. "Don't worry, MacGregor, we'll push you towards another girl of some halfway decent lineage. Your grandmother's going to be SO proud of you."

"Yeah, he would" Oliver said with a laugh. "There's this Graf's daughter we want you to MEET. She's been telling Ralf she wanted to meet you for AGES already."

"You try doing that I'll have Salamander immolate your Unicorn, Polanski" Johnny said venomously.

Kikka turned SD, blinking. "Hey, I think Helmet Hilde would do the trick. She's just as wonderfully nice as the Graf, right, Ralf"

"Wonderfully so. Both of them would have LOTS of things to talk about, seeing as they're both volatile tempered as the other." Ralf sipped at his own pink iced tea. "Your grandmother would be all out for it, MacGregor."

"**SHUT UP, JURGEN!**"

**-**

"Damn, I didn't think those exhibitionists would be giving Takao a run for his money" Max was saying a little while later. "Those are wicked moves, I'll say."

"Exactly which WAY are they giving ME a run for my money, Max" Takao said, his eyes little slits.

"The way they ham it up on stage." SD Max was laughing. "Yeah, and I didn't think those insult fests would limit themselves upon you and Kai. I'm sure we're bound to meet other Bladers with rivalries as intense as YOURS...even WAY more intense..."

"I DO NOT ham it up on the STAGE" SD Takao protested vehemently.

"Oh yes you DO Kinogu, and it's as pathetic as it gets" Kai said from somewhere behind them. He was looking through the audience. "And believe me, you're just about the WORST actor I've ever seen for ages."

"And what does that make YOU, Sir Laurence OLIVIER" SD Takao fumed.

"On the contrary. I never needed to act anyway. Goes to show I'm not as hopelessly Bladed-ly challenged like some Bladers I KNOW with egotistical complexes." SD Kai gave a small sigh, a small cloud coming out of his mouth. "I never really understood why you have to do those awful things anyway."

"Why YOU"

"Hey, would you 2 quit it already? We're almost up, you know. They just need to fix the arena after that last bout." Professor was typing furiously away on his laptop. "For one thing, I never realized this experience would introduce me to such wonderful Bey Blade data...I can't wait to start analyzing them at the end of the day..."

Max looked over his shoulder, then his eyes turned to little beads. "How come you've got Cerridwen's launch pic saved as a wallpaper on your DESKTOP"

SD Professor turned beet red, a million sweatdrop explosions about his head. "I've had this picture for DAYS already, MAX! So don't think I'm an obsessed manic fan or SOMETHING"

"Sorry. Who's manic"

"**MAX!**"

"Hey, where the heck's Lei" Yuri blinked. "Don't tell ME he and Mao went out on a little date."

"He's got a LOT of explaining to do, ever since that Michiko Rinori gave him a bear hug right in front of the entire congregation. I'm pretty sure he's trying to coax her out of a tree somewhere." Kai shook his head. "Geez. I never really understood how that girl's mind works, anyway. It's not as if Lei's to go bolt off to the sunset with that girl or something just because she gave him a bear hug..."

"Well, what would you KNOW, Kai, you don't know how it IS with young couples VERY much in LOVE" SD Takao muttered with an evil grin on his face. "Girls haven't actually killed themselves for their unrequited love for you by the hundreds."

Kai turned SD, looking like a disgruntled cat. "And what would you KNOW, Takao, no girl has ACTUALLY asked for your name yet to qualify for becoming Bey Blade's resident STUD. I don't see any lame fan girls fainting ANYWHERE."

"**And you think you QUALIFY!**"

"I've heard how Mao's been fighting off Lei's fan girls ever since they got together at the end of the Russian Finals ages ago" Max was saying. "And I've been hearing rumors that what Mao did was not very NICE."

"Rumors are just rumors, and Mao didn't EXACTLY send a bunch of houngans to terrorize those poor fan girls for the rest of their sorry lives." Lei plopped down on the seat right beside Professor. "She just didn't want them sending me love charms and that sort of thing."

"So what exactly did you 2 DO, Lei? Here I was thinking Yuri should go ahead and take your place" Kai asked him.

"Well...she was a bit miffed when Michiko hugged me and...I told her that she was a friend from my wandering days a long while back."

"That explanation took 3 HOURS" SD Max was wide-eyed. "We were seriously considering sending out the entire Greek police squadron to look for YOU."

Lei turned bright pink. "Yeah, well...we had to drop by the post office after that, Gao sent her something."

"And would it be her wedding gown, perchance"

Lei turned an even brighter shade of pink. "N-no."

"..." Kai turned SD. "Next time we go out on a tourney, Lei, would you mind freezing her passport or something? I've no qualms about your girlfriend following you every chance she could get, but you're quite forgetting you have other teammates here, waiting for you. There are times for everything. You just have to KNOW how to go about it."

"Speaking of which, she's supposed to be studying back in Japan. We're sort of excused because we're on a tourney...but, yeah, we DO have those dreaded home study programs with us." Takao blinked. "Is she on some sort of sabbatical"

"..." Lei was just quiet.

"For one thing, she did a great job of showing the Wing Blades a while ago that she OWNED Lei. That, at the expense of almost having a mud wrestling match right in front of the arena." SD Max was grinning right over at Takao. "As for you, Takao, you and that Medain Summer are so cut-out to be Bey Blade's most DARLING little couple."

Takao had several gargantuan twitches on his head. "What the HECK was that supposed to MEAN"

"..." Kai then stepped forward, his arms crossed over his chest. "No sense trying to make SENSE out of Kinogu's non-existent little love life. It's time to get this thing rolling. DJ's almost up next."

"**HEY!**"

Yuri blinked. "So who's for our lineup again"

**-**

"Sorry to drag you out here on such short notice" Cerridwen was saying as they made their way through the crowds. "Lady Celes wanted me to catch up on my 'homework'..."

"Yeah, yeah, it's nothing" Selenay said with a small wave of her hand. "Giancarlo was up to making a fool of himself in the chocolate bar, and Medain and Shizue wanted so much to have their chocolate fix. I really can't understand Donatore."

"Ralf's been telling me he has a huge crush on you, Selenay. Maybe that's why he was acting so abnormal a while ago" Cerridwen said with a laugh.

"Oh, you and Jack Benny." Selenay turned SD. "I have that perverted abomination running after ME, and now Giancarlo's so decided that he wants me to become the lady of the entire Donatore estate. What next"

"Well...there's always Yuri..."

"CER-RID-WEN." Selenay turned SD. "It's really obvious that he has a huge crush on you, and won't look at any other girl around even if the entire Miss Universe contingent parade around him in those skimpy swimsuits. Or those supermodels, for that matter. He's that hopelessly in love with you."

"..." Cerridwen turned SD as well, her eyes little beads. "Eh...he DOES...? I thought he had a crush on you..."

"If he had a crush on me, Cerridwen, he would've frozen Giancarlo at once. But NO, he was giving that Lancaster look-alike that pained, frustrated look a while ago. I mean, he wasn't able to do anything when he found out you and Arthur were some sort of couple, and...Lei's just giving him heart problems. I know how guys who have terrible crushes on other girls react, and Yuri's such a classic example."

Cerridwen blushed. "Arthur and I weren't a couple, Selenay. His mother's decided he's just in the market for older girls to continue the Lancastrian line with. I think he was engaged to marry his second cousin...and besides...Arthur only likes me as a little sister and that's that."

"Really? Well, Mr. Lancaster was giving off a very weird aura, and it was bordering on something like, 'stay away from Cerridwen or else you'll be eating the pointed end of my saber'. He looked as if he wanted to throw that huge David statue at that pervert who was asking for your autograph in Italy, remember? Was it Florence, or Naples? Anyway, Giancarlo made a vow to himself that he'd stay 100,000 light years away from you during that particular trip, he kept joking he had his gladiator costume with him and everything. Ralf vowed he wouldn't touch you even with the pointed end of his own halberd. And Rupert barely managed to contain him when that 50 year old count was asking you to become the bride of his grandson."

"Rupert..." Cerridwen blinked. "Oh yes, Arthur was with his older cousin at that summer trip to Italy...it was really surprising, to say the least. I thought they'd gone to Germany."

"If they DID that, then Giancarlo could be happily married to you by now, with Salamander burning off what's left of his tux." Selenay shook her head. "And if Arthur DID manage to find out that Giacarlo's married you, then I'll say it's goodbye, Donatorean line. No more playboys hamming it up on the Lido or the French Riviera."

"OR his cousin's regatta." Cerridwen smiled at her innocently. "I didn't know you were SO fond of him Selenay, that you ACTUALLY even have his yacht pennant waving its prominence back at your dorm room."

"What was I SUPPOSED to do, he was threatening to DATE me" Selenay then grabbed her arm. "Let's go over there, we're going to get a great view of the action going down below. Perfect for your research."

They made their way up the stands until they found themselves 2 empty seats right beside Ana. Cerridwen then set up her Apple iiMac, then started typing furiously away on the keyboard. "BBA Team, new file created. Who's on for the first match"

Selenay blinked then squinted right down the Bey Stadium. "It's that guy with those face tattoos..."

"Your dance partner? Oh." Cerridwen started typing again. "Hiwatari, Kai. Bey Blade and -Holy Beast, Dranzer F." She then opened a couple of other files more. "As far as I'm concerned, these Bey tech statistics are pretty impressive. He's got a superb track record to back it all up, and his expertise are by far up to par with Johnny's..."

"Heh, Johnny managed to do him just fine, and I pretty much daresay they've each scorched the other. And they weren't exactly so lovey-dovey about it, to boot."

"It is no doubt that Mr. Hiwatari is one of the best Bladers in the entire world, and his technique sure drives the matter straight to the heart. But given a couple more months of training, he'll be a force to be reckoned with in the entire Bey Blading world. That is, if he hasn't been missing out on his training regimen every single day. But from what I gather, they say he's still in junior high..."

"He's Shizue's schoolmate" Selenay said. "He's on the student council, and he's one of the top students in his class..."

"And still keeps up with his training? That's one mean feat."

"..." Ana was just quiet.

Kai then came up the stadium.

DJ swept his arms in a wide arc about him, grinning broadly for the entire crowd. "Well then, after that furious match with the Wing Blades, we're off to a roaring evening opening salvo from the BBA Team! As you all probably remember, the BBA Team were the champions of the recently concluded Finals Tourney back at Russia, and I hear they're one of the top favorites of making it into the Finals! Have the Wing Blades finally found their match! That's what we're about to find out" He then gestured to each of the Bladers. "From the BBA Team, we have their captain, Kai Hiwatari! And from Team Brazil, we have Diego Mujeres! Are you guys ready to RIP IT"

Kai glared at his opponent. Well, he's going to SHOW his sister he didn't need the power of the Black Dranzer in order to win this match. He was able to come out of his many Bey battles unscathed, and his Dranzer F hasn't let him down just yet. He was going to win this and he was going to be strong without the help of that cursed Bey Blade.

_The hunger for true power lies in each and every one of us...most especially in you. You cannot escape your destiny, Kai. You cannot hoodwink Fate._ Ana had been smiling at him so tenderly back then. _You cannot escape you._

Kai fitted his Bey Blade into his Shooter.

_And what exactly is my destiny? That I'll be cursed to be doomed forever, chained by my connection to that Bey Blade! Have you foreseen it all along, Ana? Have you foreseen it all along that I will eventually fall prey to that hunter, as its intended hunted? Why did you let it use you? Why didn't you stop it before it claimed you?_

"3..."

_Why did you submit to the Saint Dranzer's calling? Why didn't YOU escape YOU!_

"2..."

_Why did you let Fate do that to YOU! Why did you want me to be like YOU!_

"1..."

_Didn't you tell me to be strong? Didn't you tell me we'll always have each other, even if Grandfather threatened he'll do everything in his power to break us BOTH!_

"**GOOOOOOOOOO...**"

_I got so close to doing that, Ana, but I must be strong and must not let Fate decide what should happen to me...because I decide what happens to ME! Not FATE! Not ANYTHING else! Not that thing which binds me to my own powerlessness and my own hunger for power! Not now, not EVER!_ Kai's red brown eyes flashed. _And if THAT'S what you want...you are NOT going to break ME!_

"**SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTT!**"

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Test of wills, Kai Hiwatari-style. Go Dranzer, GO!


	17. Flamed

**FLAMED**

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Kiyaaa, had it been that long already! I am really sorry, been very busy with lots of things, awaiting my teacher certification, this and that, blah blah blah. I'm pretty sure you're thinking this little fic would be finished in time for the next Ice Age…oh well, Kai gets hot! Could the flight of Black Dranzer aka Devil Dranzer not that too far behind? What power do both Creator and Destroyer have as to bring things to fulfillment? And would Selenay be impressed? 3 R/R PLEASE!

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Bey Blade and all its characters; I only own some of the OCs (and other authors own some of the OCs) portrayed within. Sadako, owned by whoever made Ring, Ring 2, and Ring 0. So no suing! yatta, I think I've finally discovered the secret of the Quick Edit! D thanks, myspace! D

The dark blue Bey shot straight into the battle dish like a flaming comet. DJ held the microphone closer to him as he watched the 2 battling Beys went headlong against each other, sparks flying this way and that. "Dranzer F is REALLY hot today! It only goes to show that Kai Hiwatari has not let his training regimen go off even for just a brief respite after the Russian Finals…he proves worthy of the flames he wields as its one TRUE flaming master!"

Diego Mujeres glared right at Kai. "Heh, I've no intentions losing to you! Those flames are just about as pathetic as a marshmallow barbeque. Where's that fury I've heard so much about?"

"…" Kai looked at him, calm as always, a perfect foil to the flaming destruction he commands, his red brown eyes nonchalant. "Patience is a virtue. Or have you forgotten about that? I'll get to that part later. I'm just beginning to heat things up."

Dranzer F swirled about in a tornado of flame, then shot towards Euros again, leaving curling tendrils of fire as it went. Selenay blinked. "Wow, that's one mean pyrotechnics display! I've never seen –Holy Beast- aura this intense…"

"I see what you mean," Cerridwen said as her fingers flew lightly over her Apple iiMac. "No wonder the Balkov Monastery's so wound up when he defected. If things were a little different I highly doubt the BBA Team would be able to compete head-on with Team Russia and we'd have another World Champion…"

"And Medain wouldn't hear the end of it," Selenay replied, watching Kai just stand there as his Bey did all the work. "And he's the least concerned about how he'd fare in this fight…"

"He's got control of his –Holy Beast- down pat, up an amazing 34.8 from the last time it saw serious action," Cerridwen mused. "He's been training REAL hard, I guess."

"…" Ana smiled benignly. "Not training hard. He's just very scared."

"?" Selenay looked over to where Ana was sitting. The young girl was looking at Kai with a strange bemused expression on her face. Selenay blinked. "Excuse me?"

Ana blinked, then turned to look at Selenay. She gave a small smile, her eyes closed happily. "Oh, sorry, just thinking out loud. Hope I didn't get to you."

"…" Selenay frowned. "How come you say that he's just scared that's why his technique's good? Do you know Kai Hiwatari?"

"I guess you could say that. I've had him for a past couple circuits before, and I know him well enough to tell if he's serious or he's seriously scared." Ana nodded, then looked over again at Kai. "We used to Bey together, too."

"…" Selenay turned SD. "And HOW completely relevant is it trying to reminisce your Bey Blading days with your past boyfriend when all we're talking about is why he's just incredibly good TODAY?"

"Boyfriend? I wasn't saying anything about a boyfriend." Ana gave another faint smile, then stood up to leave. "Well, I have to run. No point reminiscing about the past, present, or future, isn't it?" She looked over at Selenay. "My name's Ana Mund Freid. I'll be seeing you around, I guess."

She leaves. Selenay stared after her, Cerridwen staring after her as much as she did. Selenay shuddered involuntarily. "How do YOU like that? She's so ODD, don't you think?"

"I don't know about her being odd Selenay, but she just gives me the creeps." Cerridwen gulped. "For some strange reason she reminds me of Sadako."

Selenay held her balled fists to her mouth, shaking her head very furiously, a million sweatdrop explosions over her head. "Don't REMIND me! That was the last time I'll be eating grilled burritos for DINNER! With those horrid nachos at the side! And ANCHOVY DIPS!"

"It wasn't our fault Sadako came out of the TV just as Shizue was serving us burritos."

Selenay had turned very white. "No HAIR! PLEASE!"

"And those nachos while Sadako's hair grew longer at the morgue."

"AGGGHHHH!"

"and what a MOVE! Boy, Kai Hiwatari sure knows when to strike that much needed blow at the most opportune time!" DJ was yelling. "Even Diego Mujeres' Counterslash Attack's no match for the Flare Breaker!"

"!" Cerridwen turned to look. Her mint green eyes went wide. "WHOA!"

The Red Phoenix was screeching as it encircled the stadium, turning everything about it pitch black. The enemy –Holy Beast-, a hyena, was stunned as it stayed at the center of it all, seemingly held up by some strange power. An ominous red ring of light suddenly flashed around the periphery of the battle dish, resonating as it swept outwards, bursting into shining spectral feathers of flame. The Red Phoenix swooped down for the kill, screeching for all its worth. Its feathers suddenly sparkled, turning into a kaleidoscope of colors, before deciding to cut through the hyena. It screeched, and just as soon as the ring of swirling feathers reached the outermost rim of the stadium, everything burst into flames and the hyena's pained screech was abruptly cut off.

DJ clung tightly to the handrails of the floating platform, his eyes very wide. Euros fell to the middle of the battle dish in slow motion, slowing until it came to a complete stop. It clattered uselessly on the center of the battle dish, while Dranzer F continued twirling about it in its cloak of flames, swirling like some mini fire tornado. Just as wildly, as if they were in some surreal suspended animation, the crowd erupted in cheers, their roars almost deafening.

"And he's OUT!" DJ swiped his right arm in the air in an outward arc. "First point goes to Kai Hiwatari of the BBA TEAM!"

Selenay stopped being terrified just as soon as Kai knelt down to retrieve his Bey. She was puzzled. "Eh? What happened?"

"If the Balkov Monastery didn't let go of Kai Hiwatari, they'd have burned that entire Bey Stadium to nothingness," Cerridwen said as she resumed typing on the Apple iiMac, relaying everything that had transpired a while ago while it was still fresh in her mind. Cerridwen's eyes flitted across the laptop's monitor as she checked, double checked, and triple checked her data all in a matter of a few seconds, analyzing them and doing mental calculation in her head before adding it all to Kai's data. "His anpsychic ratio is amazingly high, almost comparable to either Medain's or Shizue's during pre-Rave and almost-Rave states…I don't know with what that girl said a while ago, but we're looking at percentages pretty far from a Blader who's very terrified. Recap stats…still way above normal average, which the set norm would have to be 24.2...his ability to Rave given these coordinates would most definitely be within the time frame of 13.7 to 19.3 seconds…not too high, not too shabby either…"

"That is, if he could Rave, given specifics if and only IF he were to go against a Blader with more 'grit', so to speak." Selenay stared at the battle dish. "Judging from the way that battle was handled, finished in a couple of minutes…he's got a surgeon's precision of handling a given situation and could definitely cut in at the most opportune moment, not too early, not too late."

"Just your way of Bey Blading, eh, Selenay?"

Selenay and Cerridwen looked over their shoulders. William MacKenzie gave a small wave, grinning. "Hey."

"MacKenzie!" Selenay frowned. "Thinking you'd just as well say goodbye before deciding to leave for good?"

"Plain old Will to you." William turned SD. "And you're always a meanie, Selenay. No wonder you and that Donatore lad go together VERY well."

"He KISSED me in that dark gazebo, not the other way AROUND!"

"Yes, and Giancarlo's been telling me he liked your lips of sherry."

Cerridwen's mouth became a little O. "Sherry…Abbey grounds…!"

"That Giancarlo laced my LEMONADE!"

"Whatever." William plopped on the seat next to Selenay's, where Ana was seated a while ago. "So. Been scoping out potential opponents….errh…victims, I suppose?"

"I'm just doing my homework, thank you very much," Cerridwen replied. She started typing again. "The BBA Team's quite good."

"Oh, and here I was thinking Selenay would only notice people who are just as good as her," William said with a little nod. "Talk about some perverted sense of narcissism."

"Excuse ME! Who's a NARCISSIST!"

William patted her on the head. "Don't worry about a thing, cheri. I'll still like you, even if you were."

Selenay glared at him. "I am **SO NOT** a **NARCISSIST**!"

"…" Cerridwen smiled, her eyes closed happily (think Nadeshiko Kinomoto – Tomoyo Daidouji smile!). "She only notices people who are good. I think you didn't quite make the cut, eh, MacKenzie?"

William's mouth dropped open. Selenay blinked, then started kowtowing.

"**Evil CERRIDWEN!**" Selenay was in tears. "I THOUGHT I'll never be able to live to see that OXYMORON! Wait till I tell MEDAIN!"

William turned into a block of stone. He glared right back at Selenay. "Shut up HERRAULT!"

----------------------------------

Takao was speechless as Kai went back to the dugout to tweak his Bey a little before the next bout. "What was that fireworks show! How come you didn't say anything about having a new move like THAT!"

Kai sighed. "That's **WHY** it's called a secret move Kinogu. And thankfully, I am not so much of a braggart like you, so there."

"Who's a BRAGGART!"

"Well for one thing, it burned up that Bey Blade just fine," Lei was saying as he looked over at Kai. "I think that guy didn't expect you to pull a move like that…"

__

I didn't expect it either. Kai turned to look at Professor, determined to will that disquieting thought away. "Well? Any chances of us making it to the semifinals by now?"

"Based on your last performance from the Russian Finals and comparing it with your current 'form', so to speak…it's risen quite decently. I say we still have a chance to hit the Semis yet." He looks over at Lei, Max, and Takao. "I'm really excited how your own performances would turn out, I'm still uncertain about how I've tweaked your Beys to suit the data I've collected over our past matches, the Russian Finals, and our hiatus…"

"Hey, everything you did up to now worked really awesome, Professor, nothing to it!" Max told him, giving him a hearty slap on the back. "We've been through worse scrapes than this, and you've saved us time and again with your technical know-how!"

"I think I have a **PRETTY** clear idea why he's nervous," Lei said slyly, turning into a sly chibi neko. "It's because his idol's around here somewhere, watching."

"No, that's not IT!" Professor yelps, his face turning bright red. "I'm VERY worried, I really AM!"

"No use worrying about it now, isn't it. We're already here." Kai did a final check on his Bey Blade then started walking back towards the battle dish. He stopped, turning to look at Professor, his red brown eyes still wearing that same nonchalant expression. "It'll work just fine, so stop being anxious about it. You'll only feel much worse."

He then stepped up to the battle dish. Lei blinked.

__

Kai…? Is something wrong…?

Takao was pulling at his hair. "What the---did Hiwatari just say something NICE right now!"

"Will wonders never cease." Max blinked. "Yuri, you sure with the lineup?"

"Yeah," Yuri replied, looking over to where Kai was. He frowned, sensing something was amiss, as much as Lei did. Was it just the pressure or was it something else?

"So, it's like Kai, Lei, Yuri, Max," Professor said, looking at the piece of paper he held in his hand.

Takao turned SD. "How come I don't get to make my grand debut?"

"Kai reckons it's best if you stay out of this one for a while," Professor replied. "You've been experiencing an unusual jet lag over jet lags lately and he wants you to rest."

"There he goes again, saying something NICE! Am I missing something here! Is the world about to end?"

"From the looks of it, yeah," Max says with a laugh. "And Kai is its prophet of doom."

DJ was waving his arms in the air again to get everybody's attention. "This is it, 2nd battle, Team BBA VS Team Brazil, Kai Hiwatari VS Diego Mujeres! Are you guys ready to rip IT! EVERYBODY! 3…2…1…GOOO…SHOOOOOTTTTTTTT!"

Yuri frowned slightly. Max and Takao sure weren't too far off from the truth. And Kai's feeling the pressure.

_  
Keep this. It's yours._

Kai glared at Chairman Daitenji, then slapped his hand away. _I don't want anything from you, especially that cursed Bey. I thought you have so wanted to destroy it!_

__

Quite right, when it had swallowed you whole back there. But now it's the time that I return it back to you. You are its rightful owner. Chairman Daitenji's eyes had been very serious. _I am sure the Devil Dranzer would have it no other way. No other Blader would it acknowledge except you, for you are its' only known master. And to leave it here will utterly destroy you…it will seek revenge on the one who has abandoned it, and we may not be able to help you overcome it, as much as your other teammates did for you. Do you understand, Kai?_

Kai gritted his teeth, looking the other way. Yuri had never seen Kai so angry, yet so frightened.

__

The next time I'm going to use that thing is when I've already done everything I can to save myself, and have utterly lost. Don't go telling me to use that to hunt my sister down. It's better if I have her lost forever. Kai's voice was the barest thread of a whisper. _Do you understand, Chairman Daitenji? If you do as much hint about using that thing to get my sister back, then I'll be out of this stupid little game._

__

Understood, Kai.

Yuri could not still grasp the horror Kai felt about even suggesting to him that he use that Dark Bey, when he had used it formerly to hurt his friends back at the Russian Finals, and a couple others more, besides. The Volg created 2 very powerful Beys and had in them contained the power of life and death itself, and suffer that no other Blader should wield it except for the one it chooses to become its master. Wolborg and the rest of his former comrades' Beys were patterned after them. He was still awed by how powerful his Bey already was, but he hasn't really understood the true meaning of the power these Beys held: something which Kai had seen, and it had terrified him greatly. If he'd seen how truly powerful they were, would he have understood life and death itself…?

Yuri watched as Max, Takao and Professor cheered Kai on as he went on his Bey spree. If they'd known about the secret of Saint Dranzer, would they still be so gung-ho about every opportunity that came their way? Ana must've known everything about life and death already, that was why Kai was frightened, and whatever Ana knew to be the truth, it must be terrifying indeed. Nobody in their right minds would have their younger siblings dragged back to the monastery to where their lives had been hell, and come back years later as if nothing happened.

Kai knew Ana was watching him, and if he wasn't careful, she'd get to his friends just to make him use the Devil Dranzer. Kai knew that if Ana saw how strong he'd already become, she'll let off trying to make him take to the Devil Dranzer again and hover between life and death, just as she did to him when she left him so many years ago, just when he did when he tried to destroy his teammates completely during the Russian Finals…Ana would cease, maybe, for a couple of weeks, months…or even years. But he knew she'd come back again and again, and each time she comes back, his resolve not to use the Devil Dranzer will diminish, and he'll eventually fall prey to it at the end, just as much as how the Saint Dranzer swallowed his sister's soul and was no more than a mindless puppet than Yuri and the rest of Team Russia were under the clutches of Boris Balkov and his grandfather, Souichiro Hiwatari.

He swipes his arm, his red brown eyes narrowing. Dranzer F soared. _Watch me Ana. Watch me fight ME!_

"Crush him, Dranzer! Rising Flame SABER!"

The audience's roar was proof enough.

--------------------------------

Selenay's mouth was a little O. "That was some AWESOME move!"

"Eh? As what MacGregor's been going at, his skills are just a tad bit under him," William said, nodding.

Selenay rolled her eyes. "Leave it to Johnny to color things up a bit, will you? I'm pretty sure they've both been training hard and such and such, but that is just so wrong of him to judge that his skills are a tad better than whomever what. And that is just not SO Johnny. Might it be that you're the one doing the coloring? Johnny's **SUCH** a gentleman."

"Ah, SHADDUP!"

"So, what do you think, Cerridwen?"

Cerridwen blinked, her fingers a seeming blur as she typed furiously on her laptop. "His second performance has been pretty consistent with his projected Rave so far, with ± 2.367 difference in the peak anpsychic ratio, and a little bit over 0.081 average in the last 12 seconds of his second match."

"Definitely Selenay material," William commented.

Selenay glared at him. "Would you stop getting on my CASE, MacKenzie!"

"He can't help it, he's hopelessly in love with you." Johnny appeared then kicked William out of the way, his eyes devilish little slits. "And how the bloody HELL did you even DARE breathing on her you stupid GIT! I could teach your stupid chimera a barbeque recipe or 2!"

"OUCH! HEY! When did you suddenly grow such HUGE feet MACGREGOR!"

"And your feet AREN'T!"

"What THE----"

"Hi, Johnny!" Cerridwen said with a small smile on her face. "You're finally fed up with Giancarlo?"

"Yes, he was hitting on a couple more girls he met just 3 seconds ago prior to entering the chocolate bar, and I haven't seen him since. He says one of them actually knows Helmet Hilde, so I decided to make like Houdini and disappear." Johnny leaned over and used William's gold brown hair as a stand (Oo;; you get the point.). "So, the BBA Team won already?"

"Yup, 1 to 0," Cerridwen answered. She gestured to Selenay. "And Selenay says she's actually interested in him."

"I DID not! I just said his moves were pretty AWESOME!"

"You haven't actually acknowledged other guys' Bey Blade tactics before you met that tattoo guy down there," William said, his eyes little slits. "And I'm sticking with what I have said earlier, about you having a perverted sense of narcissism."

"**I AM NOT A NARCISSIST!**"

"And Johnny's not a PORCUPINE head?"

Johnny twitched. "Make them 100 barbeque recipes."

Cerridwen gave that small smile again (Nadeshiko Kinomoto + Tomoyo Daidouji smile), then went back to her work, finishing Kai's data analysis and saving them onto the file she created solely for the BBA Team. She looked over her laptop and saw Kai being greeted by his jubilant teammates, meeting him halfway before he made it to their dugout. She was still thinking of that last match and making up a report for Lady Celes in her head when DJ cleared his throat in preparation for announcing the second match.

"Alright, that concludes the 1st match between these 2 very awesome teams, securing a point for the fast-becoming crowd favorites, the BBA Team, and 0 to Team Brazil! Could the Wing Blades' end be just in sight! Well, this 2nd match will determine it out! Would the next Bladers, please step forward?"

"…" Lei, who had his eyes closed as he said a little prayer, opened them again then went towards the battle dish, holding a small brown parcel to his side, his Bey Blade and Shooter on the other.

"For the BBA Team, we have Lei Kon! And for Team Brazil, we have Jimena Montero!"

William stopped bickering with Selenay and Johnny long enough to deadpan, "You SURE Lancaster doesn't have a frigging twin?"

"NO. If that were the case, you 2 wouldn't be alive by now, sitting close to Cerridwen, I reckon he'd have asked his twin to kill any male who'd try to make themselves cozy sitting next to his little Cerri, and because he's also bonkers over her as much as Arthur did," Selenay retorted, just as Lei stopped at the edge of the battle dish. She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Haven't you had enough of that Lancastrian experience to make you stop wishing Arthur was HERE?"

"No," came William's short reply.

"Oh boy. You HAVE a death wish."

"…" Cerridwen looked over at the battle dish beneath them, her heart stopping unwillingly as soon as her eyes saw the raven haired young man face his violet haired opponent. It wasn't right! He wasn't Arthur!

But why does her heart still wish it was him…?

Was there any way to stop this madness?

"…" Lei looked over at his opponent, his gold yellow eyes determined and set.

"Let's finish this."

----------------------------------

AUTHOR'S NOTES: . Extremely long chappie. How will Cerridwen fare in this ghost battle?


End file.
